


that boy, what a shame

by metaphysicalregret



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bruce is a dick, Embarrassment, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Protective Siblings, Public Humiliation, Self-Denial, Sibling Bonding, bruce hitting his kids, jason being a good bro
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2020-03-10 02:29:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 38,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18929461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metaphysicalregret/pseuds/metaphysicalregret
Summary: Deathstroke and a few other mercenaries have gained possession over a container filled with a substance that if messed with can be used to wipe out the entire league or anyone of that caliber. The Justice League has agreed to pay a certain amount of money to them in order to gain possession of this substance, so that they can lock it away and potentially use it to their own advantage.The two parties are to meet at the docks of Gotham, where the exchange will commence.But here's the catch, water. Water is adverse to the substance, and yet the league does not take the opportunity to dispose of the substance entirely while they are at the docks.Nightwing seems to be the only one who sees something wrong with this and interferes where he probably shouldn't. At least in Batman's opinion.





	1. Chapter 1

 

"Alright boys, I don't know how often you've done this,"

 

One of the tall mercenaries leaning against the drug crate yawns. "Please, Deathstroke, we know how contracts work. Save it."

 

 Its 8pm, and the sun has set at the Gotham docks. Deathstroke and a squad of thugs stand guarding two crates full of heavily researched and produced substance by black market scientists. The substance was a substitute that could be used in bombs, weapons and any other war ammuntion. It was heavily corrosive and had the potential to destroy cities if not handled properly.  

 

"Just so we're clear," Slade announces loudly, ignoring the roll of his eyes. "This shit took me years to get a hold of, and since I'm being generous and letting you take some of the share, i won't tolerate any of you degenerates that only recently decided to lend a hand in, blowing all those years of tracking away. Im a man who prioritises my time. " 

 

The substance was made under years of undercover research, and its only recently had it come to the attention of the Justice League. It was a surprise as to how such a thing was kept under wraps for so long, and Slade was proud that he was one of the first to get a hold of it. 

 

"When the League arrives, don't move an inch away from that container until i've been paid. Do not talk or interfere with any negotiations until i say so. Until you hear the sound of that paper money in your hands or the sound of my bank alerting me of a great, fat, deposit, you don't fucking move. Are we clear?"

 

"Crystal,"  

 

Most of the substance was destroyed, as dangerous as it was, it can easily be dissolved by water. Making this particular crate _very_ expensive. Its what happens when things are made under such circumstances, as deadly as it is, its the made in china, walmart version, of explosives. 

 

One of the more wider, shorter of the mercenaries thumps his head onto the crate in boredom. "These heroes sure take their sweet time."

 

Slade didn't have any particular motivation to get a hold of it, he wasn't really those world domination types, and neither did he have any need to dispose of the Justice League. But like any other guy in his field he had tabs open on the market. Once the demand for this rose, a substance that if you possess, can possibly make you the most threatening person out there, the mercenary knew he would get a juicy contract out of this one.

 

The League had contacted him immediately. They'd made it a point that any potential threat to the League must be in the possession of the League themselves, or to be specific, in Batmans possession. 

Deathstroke, though a known bad, only worked through contracts, so it was a straightforward negotiation. They knew Deathstroke just wanted to get paid and he would gladly hand it over once they did pay him.

 

The only weird thing was this exchange had to be held in Gotham of all places. Slade was certain the Bat didn't want this sort of commotion to interfere in his turf if something were to go wrong. And he was sure he wouldn't want any of his bat-brats interfering either. Hm. Especially Grayson. This did not seem like the type of thing the kid would just ignore. Nightwing was even more morally driven than the Bat himself. 

 

Slade reminded himself that the bird themed vigilante had claimed Blüdhaven as his own turf. He was just being paranoid, Grayson wouldn't just- 

 

Hm.

 

He would.

 

“Here birdie birdie” Slade called mockingly, facing the cranes across the area. “I know you're here. Why don't you show yourself?"

 

The group of mercs on the far side looked at him in alarm. Slade continued to make bird calling noises.

 

"Yo, Deathstroke," One of them called out. "You said there wouldn't be any bat brats ruining this for us." Slade ignored him.

 

"Shit," The others eyes widened, elbowing the other. "What if it's a trap and the League is out to get us?" 

 

"I have a contract Nightwing," Deathstroke said loudly, hoping the bird would show himself sooner so he could shoo him away before the League arrived. "One that you will not interfere with." 

 

There was a brief silence before a light thud of boots landed on the top of the crate the thugs were guarding. A few mercs swivelled around before pointing individual guns at the intruding party.

 

"Gentlemen," a playful voice said.

 

Slade lifted his head to stare at said intruding party. “Run along, pretty bird." it was followed by a few other 'yeah get lost bird boy!' 'go to hell bat brats!' by the surrounding thugs. 

 

"Why? Looks like you're having a party here without me," The young vigilante snorts, ignoring the crowd below him before backflipping off the crate to land directly in front of Slade, the pointed guns followed him. “What sort of a contract is this?"

 

Slade quirks up at that last bit, but chooses to ignore it. Perhaps the Bat didn't tell him.

 

"What do you think the nature of contracts i take are, kid?" Slade shrugged and sheathes his sword, pointing it directly under Nightwings chin. "Hm?"

 

“The paying kind?" Dick replies, unbothered by the sword. 

 

Slade chuckles fondly, lowering his katana to point directly at Nightwing's chest where his blue emblem stretched out. "Your intelligence never ceases to amaze me, Nightwing."

 

Dick hears the thugs snickering behind him. Perfect.

 

He blinks widely, and with two fingers he grabs the tip of the sword from the flat sides and makes a show of moving the pointy bit away from him. The laughter behind him resides, and Dick can practically feel the dozens of stares he's getting behind his back. Slade, however, doesn't react to the younger's antics.

 

Nightwing gestures to the container behind Deathstroke. "Whats in the box?"

  

"None of your concern, kid." He says, going along with Dick's playful act of obliviousness. The mercs behind them chuckle again, but the atmosphere is growing tense. The only reason Nightwing isn't on the ground with a bullet in his back is definitely because of Deathstroke's orders.

 

Dick blinks expectantly. Slade smirks. "Stuff that I'm exchanging, like you said, to get paid."

 

“You're in Gotham, Slade. That means it's my concern.” Dick said, shifting but not breaking eye contact. "What's. in. the. crate."

 

"C5-789" Deathstroke didn't miss a beat, surprising Dick slightly. He grinned, using his sword to tilt Dick's head up. The vigilante didn't move from his place, standing his ground. "You've heard about that surely, it's been circulating for a while now." 

 

If Nightwing experiences any sort of recognition, he hides it well. But Slade can practically hear the gears turning in the young vigilante's head. Even though this whole fiasco was kept irrelevant to the crime circles in Bludhaven, Dick  _must_ have seen the Bat looking into it at some point, but Slade wasn't sure how up to date the man liked to keep his kids on the things he was working on.

 

"And you've got a hold of it, and are going to sell it, for money." Dick says matter-of-factly. "The chemical that can be diminished by, literally water. Thats something."

  

So he did know about it. That brings the question as to why Grayson is here when his daddy is about to show up in just a matter of minutes to deal with the contract that he is a part of himself.

 

"So you did your homework, Nightwing. Sorry, I left my reward stickers at home, but maybe i can leave you with something.... a little more permanent," Slade crooned, digging the point of the sword right under his chin just enough for it to hurt but not cut just yet.

 

The mercs behind them snort in amusement. Dick cocks his head innocently, moving away from the offending sword.

 

Slade's smirk falls into a frown, voice deep and with an underline of a threat. "Drop the act. You know the demand for this in the market. And you knew i'd be the first to get a hold of such a thing. Stop playing dumb, boy."

 

Dick grins immediately, it looks kind of insane. "Guilty," he says, but he sounds smug.

 

"You knew you'd either find me, or one of my brothers here to stop you, Slade." Nightwing said, placing his hands on his hips and turning to stare at the water. "And it's your lucky day, apparently, because Red Hood was about to patrol the docks until i decided to. _And you know him_ , he's a shoot first, questions later kinda guy."

 

Slade was looking unimpressed.

 

"So why choose Gotham?" Dick started cackling lowly, "and why, of all places, the docks!"

 

This brings Slade back to his previous assumption. The Bat didn't tell him anything. _Oh boy,_

 

This was about to get interesting.

 

"I could legit just-" He gestures animatedly to the containers. "Throw it in the water! And then what!"

 

"Oh dear, my precious contract would be ruined," Slade says, mock disappointment in his voice. "What a shame. All because of that pesky boy."

 

"Exactly, ha!" Dick barked, laughing to himself. He then pulls out his escrimas, readying himself to leap at Slade to get to the container.

 

 _Shit_. Of course he'd take the mockery as a challenge. Slade had to stop this before the League got here, he wasn't about to risk loosing the substance because one nosy bat brat decided to step in where he didn't belong.

 

“Kid,” Slade said, voice low, abandoning the playful, teasing banter he tended to engage in whenever Nightwing was there. “Go. Home. You don't know what you're walking in on.”

 

"Like hell i don't," He suddenly leaps, and shoots a line out of nowhere that attaches to the crate. _So the sticks were just a diversion_ , _cute,_ Slade thought. But if Dick was fast, the mercenary was faster, blame it on the kind of residual superpowers from the lazarus pit. 

 

Slade swiftly cuts his line, grabbing the boy before he reached the crate. Dick twists in his grip and flips backwards, but then immediately bounces back towards Slade, this time actually using his escrimas to attack.

The two clash, Slade blocks his sticks with his sword and for a moment they're at a standstill, just pushing at each others weapons before-

 

"Nightwing." A gravel voice calls.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

"B?" Dick calls back without looking behind him. "You gonna just stand there or lend a hand?"

 

The mercs who were patiently stood behind both Nightwing and Deathstroke point their guns at thier new guest, Batman. Slade signals for them to stand down. Dick senses Slade has stopped resisting and is instead making eye contact with the Bat. Confused, he pulls away and looks behind him.

 

"Whats going on, B?" Dick asks, staring behind his old mentor.

 

Slade knows that question isn't directed at only the Bat but the fact that the entire Justice League is stood behind him, that must've taken Nightwing by surprise.

 

"You tell me." The Bat replies smoothly, making it sound accusatory. _Interesting._

 

"I'm-" Nightwing pauses to observe the situation, looking at the way the mercenaries are stood unfazed at the presence of Batman and the entire Justice League. "-interfering a dumb contract that includes explosive chemicals. What, no guns for him?" He says to the mercs.

 

The mercenaries don't respond, instead shrugging smugly, waiting to see the arising conflict. Or they're just excited to get paid now that the League is here.

 

"You can leave now, Nightwing. I'll take it from here." The Bat announces dismissively.

_Ouch._

Nightwing reeled back a little, quite obviously offended. "I- what?"

"You are not required here anymore. Go join Robin and Batgirl on patrol-"

"What the hell? I was here first, why would i just leave, Batman?" His voice was starting to raise. "Why is the League here?" He looks behind Bruce again, and the League is starting to look a little uncomfortable at being present for this father son conflict. Slade found this very amusing.

"We will talk about this later." Bruce said lowly, and Slade couldn't help but let out a snort. Grayson was stubborn, if he felt he was being left out on something he didn't let go of it until he was filled in.

"No." Nightwing stares at the Bat head on, which is an interesting sight as he is a significant number of inches shorter. "Not until you tell me what the hell is going on,"

_Nice._

Batman doesn't say anything, but you can practically hear his heavy breathing. He's angry, like he usually is when someone disrespects or doesn't listen to his orders. Makes it worse that it's his own prodigy that's doing it.

 

Dick is starting to get increasingly frustrated. “Is _someone_ gonna tell me what the hell is going on?”

 

Superman is about to say something of consolation but Flash beats him to it.

 

“We’re here to collect the stuff, kid.” He says nervously, because he can see Batmans fist clenching and unclenching in slow motion.

 

Dick’s brows raise, and his head swivels around to look at Deathstroke.

 

“You have a contract with the _League?_ The fucking League?”

 

“ _Nightwing,”_ Batman scolds him for the profanity, which is ridiculous considering the situation.

 

Slade wisely stays silent, but gives Nightwing a bland look, which could almost pass for a sympathetic one.

 

Dick turns back to look at the League. “And you _willingly_ made a contract with _Deathstroke?_ For explosives? _Im sorry,_ excuse my gosh darn language but what the actual-“

 

“Nightwing!” Batman shouts, and then consciously pauses to lower his voice. “Your work here is done, I expect you to see yourself out. We will discuss this later.”

 

“Its not done, Batman! Stop telling me this isn’t my business. You guys are about to buy chemicals that are nuclear bomb levels of dangerous, from Deathstroke! It’s my fucking business!”

 

“Son,” Supes interjects calmly. “These are dangerous chemicals, the League is making it their business to safekeep these explosives—“

 

“What? So you can use them against anyone who comes against you when needed?” Dick responds without missing a beat. Superman starts to disagree but he doesn’t let him speak. “Because even if that wasn’t your intention, it was definitely _his._ ” He says, pointing to Batman. “Just another form of contingency plan,”

 

“Nightwing,” Wonder Woman steps up, attempting to clear the air. “There will be no such use of these chemicals. They will be locked away in _safekeeping_ forever,”

 

“Really?” Nightwing replies defiantly. And Slade has to give it to the kid for being able to see through everyone else bullshit immediately. Nightwing was insanely good at reading people. “Then why not just destroy it? Why keep it if you’re not gonna use it?”

 

“Kid—“

 

“What? You’re here, at the docks! Why not just destroy it in the water? Why the hell are you paying the bad guys for it?”

 

Silence.

 

“Am i really the only one who sees something wrong with this whole situation?”

 

Dicks cries are only followed by a continued heavy silence, the one that makes you feel like the centre clown of attention who is on a completely different page than everyone else. It only infuriates him even more. He directs his attention directly towards his mentor.

 

“Call this off.” Nightwing says.

 

Bruce doesn’t move or change his expression but his breathing hitches ever so slightly in surprise at the command.

 

“I said, call this off, _Batman._ ”

 

“Are you in your right mind, _boy?_ ” Batman seethes very lowly, so only Dick can hear, or well, also Slade with enhanced hearing, and the various other League members with super hearing. This wasn’t a very dignifying situation for Dick. “Behave yourself.” He says, as if Nightwing is some child throwing a tantrum and not making a common sensical point.

 

“Don’t talk to me like that!” Nightwing responds. “I seriously can’t believe you, all of you right now.”

 

 _“Nightwing,”_ Batman growls. “Stand. Down.”

 

“Hell no. Not when this just looks like a load of bullshit to me, B.”

 

“You better watch what you say next,” Bruce warns, stepping closer to Dick threateningly.

 

“Or, what?” Dick steps forward challengingly. Their audience feels like they’re holding a breath. “What could possibly be worse, than the absolute dumbassery that’s taking place right here? And the fact that none of you seem to understand?”

 

Batman’s fist is visibly clenched. It’s obvious to anyone who can see the two arguing that he’s aching to hit him.

 

“Or,” Dick says accusingly, “You all are aware of what I’m saying. You just choose to remain oblivious to seem innocent of what you’re about to do.”

 

 

_But no one expects it to actually happen._

 

 

Dick isn’t even exactly sure what happened himself, just that one moment he was toe to toe with his father and the next he’s stumbling backwards, his body suddenly reacting in shock to the pain climbing up his cheek. He feels tears at the corners of his eyes, and squeezes his eyes shut as he hears the blood pumping through his ears.

 

Everyone is dead silent. Shocked.

 

Batman and Nightwing were known to argue here and there, and to the average outsider it was quite obviously harmless. In the sense that the over controlling Batman was having a fallout with his dramatic ex sidekick, _his first robin._ People always used Batman as a form of jabbing at Nightwing, teasing about his daddy issues, his loyalty to the Bat etc. No one actually expected the Batman to raise a hand on him.

 

Especially not in front of an audience, that included mercenaries.

 

Nightwing is stood rigidly, unmoving. His bangs are low enough to fall over his eyes which are most definitely shut. He has a gloved hand covering the side of his face where he was hit. Where Batman hit him. _Slapped him._

 

Somehow that made it worse. A slap just held more emotional meaning to it.

 

Batman himself just remains expressionless, the hand that he hit him with has disappeared back inside his cape, as if nothing had just happened at all.

 

Dick can feel the eyes of everyone on him, the shame of being hit by his ex mentor in front of the entire Justice League, Deathstroke, and a bunch of thugs has him on the border of a panic attack. But his body feels frozen, he wants to run. Run away from the eyes of everyone and hide, but he can’t make himself.

 

He’s released from this trance when he feels a sudden hand on his shoulder. He jumps, looking up wildly. Its Barry. “Dick, breathe.” He whispers calmingly.

 

He looks in front of him and sees Diana making her way to Batman.

 

He can’t. He can’t do this. He’s not some kid, he doesn’t want this pity.

 

_He runs._

 


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey! What part of arriving at the meeting point on time did you not get, Goldie?" The Red Hood yells as he spots the blue enigma of his brothers suit a few rooftops away. He fires a line to swing closer, and sees Nightwing crouched-no- _huddled_ over the edge of the roof.  _Huh._

 

"Replacement and I were waiting for you, and you haven't been answering your comms. Oracle said she had your location but-" Jason finally lands on the roof Dick was on, and sees the crushed communicator on the ground. "Your communicator was offline. Or by the looks of it, _dead_."

"So yeah. What do you have to say for yourself Golden Boy?" As Jason walks across the roof, he notices Dick hasn't moved and his hands are in his hair, and he can't really see his face. "Nightwing?"

 

Dick can hear his brother perfectly well, but he can't really bring himself to respond. Although the sting of the hit is mostly gone, he can still feel the blood pumping loudly through his ears and its making him nauseous. That and, how the hell is he supposed to let Jason, his younger brother see him like this?

 

"Earth to Dickie bird," Jason says, but his voice is closer and Dick guesses he's probably crouching in front of him now.

What is he even gonna say? Thanks to Bruce, all his brothers looked up to him, as if he was some set perfect example. Dick hated the look on their face whenever he was in moments in vulnerability. It was the same look you get seeing your childhood hero get pummelled to the ground or something.

Dick decided that he should be glad it was Jason who approached him and not Tim or Damian. Not that he didn't prefer them, but it would be a lot harder to explain and get over something like this in front of them who would bombard him with questions and concern immediately. Jason tended to give people a bit more space, and had definitely seen enough bullshit to be immune.

 

"Hey, Jay." Dick looks up, but forgets that he'd been crying and his tears are clouding his vision behind his mask. He blinks around in attempts to clear his vision without removing his mask. "Did you guys... complete the mission?"

 

Jason shrugs, helmet now off and set on the ground beside him. "Uh yeah. It was pretty basic shit. Dunno why B thought it would be a good idea to put the three of us on it."

 _Because he wanted to keep you occupied so that he could pay up his contract with Deathstroke._ Dick wanted to say. Instead he said, "Yeah..sorry i didn't get there."

 

"Psht. No one missed you, Dickhead. I mean, the fact that you didn't show didn't really make a difference, we got done in under an hour."

 

Dick spares him a slight grin, bantering with his brother helped keep his mind off the previous events of the night. "Really? Is that why you were so worried about where i was? That you called O to ask where i am?"

 

"What? Yeah right." Jason scowls, and then shrugs again. " You said you were gonna meet us and then you didn't show, dude. We were wondering what the fuck you were up to." He pauses to look at him accusingly.  "So yeah. What were you up to?"

 

"I-" Dick starts, and consciously stops himself. He shudders, running a hand through his hair. It's dark where they're sat so he's  glad Jason cant really see what must be the bruise on his face.

 

Jason blinks. "What? Patrol at the docks didn't go so well?" and then he's looking over the edge of the roof at a sudden noise, waiting for Dick to respond. Turns out it was just some cats fighting. At Dicks silence he presses further.  "I told you i should've gone. But did you listen-"

 

"Nothing happened." Dick interrupts pointedly, but he speaks with his head ducked as his voice wavers slightly at being questioned. It doesn't go unnoticed by his brother, who is now observing him curiously. "Just..lost track of time.. that's all.."

 

It's pretty clear to Jason that Dick is hiding something. But doesn't really say anything, he's just looking at Dick in contemplation. It seems that Dick is doing the same when he manages to look up at him again. If there were a third person here they'd say they're acting like the most emotionally stunted people on earth right now.

 

Which reminds Jason that he hadn't really turned his comm off. His eyes widen and Dick looks up at him in confusion. He presses a finger to his ear. "O? Are you still there?"

 

Dick visibly blanches, Jason shrugs innocently. 

 

Barbara replies after a few seconds, she sounds exasperated. "When am i not, Red Hood. And i call Nightwing out on his bullshit. Tell him that destroying his comm doesn't prevent me from re tracing his steps. He was at the docks with Deathstroke, but the camera footage is destroyed after that."

 

"Deathstroke?" He looks at Dick, who really looks like is about to puke. Jason stands, ignoring Dick's sounds of protest from the ground. "Can't you get the footage back? You always find ways to do that."

 

Barbara sighs loudly. Jason cringes because its really loud over the comms. "Usually, yes. But whoever destroyed the footage knew what they were doing."

 

"Fuck."

 

"I have to go, I'm monitoring Robin and Batgirl at the moment and they need me." And she pauses to add. "Talk to him okay? I don't know what happened but from the sound of him right now he's doing a real bad job keeping himself together. Oracle out."

 

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all your comments! they motivate me to update faster :D

Barbara is looking through security camera footage of the docks when Jason asks her if she's still there.  
  
Nightwing is stood toe to toe with Deathstroke. He appears to be trying to get to the container but the mercenary is protecting it. By the looks of it, and based on the last exchange that she'd had with him he was about to bust an illegal weapons deal at the docks.

The interesting thing about the whole ordeal is that the backup squad that the mercenary has with him is stood patiently as the two fight, not even trying to stop Nightwing, as if he wasn't a threat to them at all. The footage cuts out immediately after this scene plays out. Babs exhales tiredly.

  
It was usually Jason who tampered with these kinds of things. Each bat member usually had their own assigned areas of Gotham to patrol, and when Dick wasn't in Bludhaven he mainly hovered around the centre, crowded areas Gotham so he could swing around tall buildings. It was a sudden change of plan that Nightwing had requested to patrol the docks when she informed him of Deathstroke being there. And she had agreed, informing the Red Hood that he and Nightwing would be swapping today. She hadn't payed it much attention, and for that she felt slightly responsible for whatever happened. But usually when a mercenary shows up in Gotham with a weapons deal its not Batman she expects to be on the receiving end of it.

 

Yes. She knew who cut the footage. She wasn't dumb. 

There's only one person who knows how to do that in a way that she can't revive the footage. The question was as to  _why_ he did it.

Now the obvious first thought that she'd had was that Bruce and Dick got into another argument and wanted privacy, which was natural--they usually tended to get into disagreements on patrol-- _except,_ there was a third party-no, other parties involved in this situation. If Batman was cutting off the footage from Oracle for privacy then what about Deathstroke and his squad of mercenaries that were present for the whole thing? 

That meant that there was something else occurring that he did not want her to see. And he really chose the right day, when she was already preoccupied leading the full batfam on thier seperate missions. Especially because _Bruce_ had assigned them each with separate tasks spread over Gotham because he was off on "League business" and so he needed them to watch over the city. Now, quite honestly Barbara didn't care what he and the League got up to, as long as it wasn't a breach of thier fundamental morals or interfering with any of the bat members. But Dick was involved in this, and something was seriously off.

The only reason she hadn't confronted Bruce about it the moment she saw the cut footage was that she was sure Bruce _knew_ that she would know who destroyed the footage immediately. And there was no point hiding any footage from her if there were other parties involved. She could easily find out from one of the mercenaries if she wanted to. But this suddenly became personal, and the question was, should she?

The whole thing was giving her a bad gut feeling, and even though she was the all seeing Oracle, she just wasn't sure how much she should interfere. So she figured since Jason had found Dick, maybe he could just talk it out of him.

And that's pretty much what she was counting on. _For now._

  
  
  
-  
  
  
  
  
"So," Jason starts, looking down at his brother who was subconsciously looking the other way. "You met Deathstroke at the docks."

 

"Yeah I did." 

 

"And you knew he'd be there, that's why you wanted to go. And lemme guess, it was your basic arms deal of some sorts and O told you he was there and you said you'd go instead of me, correct?"

 

Dick slowly stands up, he's still looking the other way, out at the city. "Ever the detective, Jason." He smiles faintly in amusement, but it's not genuine. Dick's expression is constantly wavering, and if it wasn't so dark, Jason would say that his brother is trembling. And it's not from the cold.

 

"Okay so what the fuck is your problem? Why're you acting like you've seen a ghost?" Jason walks back towards him, right in his line of sight. "And no, as much as i'd like to say it, I don't count."

 

"Im fine, Jason." The older tries.  "I told you nothing ha-"

 

"Bullshit." Jason is fully focused on him now, and he grabs his shoulder, checking his brother for injuries. Dick actually seemed perfectly fine, physically. No grunts of pain or slow movements that indicated any injuries. So it doesn't look like Slade actually got a hit on him or anything. "Are you hurt or something?" 

 _And here I thought you wouldn't bombard be with questions, Dick thinks._  The sudden physical contact has him swaying on his feet slightly in surprise, and he doesn't realise that he's said that out loud. 

Jason freezes. "Okay, what the shit. Something is wrong with you, and you're not fucking telling me what."

No matter now emotional his older brother is, Dick has never acted _this_ weird before. And that's saying something, because Dick is pretty weird when he's upset. Jason figures its because he always has a positive face on for the rest of his family that he panics when he's been caught out of the happy, strong older brother act. He also knows that it makes Dick, the fool, feel guilty whenever he accidentally by chance does have one of his younger brothers see him upset. And Jason is glad he's the one that's found Dick because the guy wouldn't even give Tim or Damian a chance to see him like this.

"Goldie, what. happened." Jason says, looking him right in the eyes. "If you don't spill i'm going to physically fight you."

Dick doesn't like this. He's feeling like he can't breathe again and Jason cornering him only has him on the verge of hyperventilating. All of these feelings just seem to translate into a low whine that surprises the both of them, and Jason can actually feel his trembling now. "Dick," He quickly grabs his brothers face when he tries to face the other way. "Are you _crying_ behind your mask?"

"No- No i'm not Jay- stop it!" Dick yells and turns his face when his brother reaches out to peel off his mask. But now his mask is off and he's pretty sure he's having a panic attack and all he can do is let out a big sob.  "Shit, shit shit, Dick, calm down," Jason is muttering, and he tries to get a better look at his brothers face.

Dick shakes his head and squeezes his eyes shut again, pushing at Jason who doesn't let go. Gosh, he just feels like a big baby. He's having a breakdown in front of his younger brother just because of some, what? daddy issues? Usually he's able to keep it together, so why is he reacting like this now? And he can't even  tell Jason, because it just sounds stupid, so stupid. From what he knows Jason's experienced actual abuse on the streets as a kid before Bruce took him in. _What is this compared to that?_   _You're acting like a child, that's why Bruce treats you like one._ Dick's mind screams at him.

Jason is taken aback, for sure. And its not because of seeing Dick cry all of a sudden- the guy is emotional, he does that-- no, it's because of the way he's acting. The symptoms seem clear in his head but he'd never thought he'd see it on his older brother, of all people.  

"Hey," He says, as calm as he can. "Just- Just hold still okay?" Jason pulls a pocket flashlight out of his jacket and shines it on his brothers face. Dick winces and turns, but Jason's speculations have been confirmed.

Theres a wide bruise, thats stretching across Dick's cheek, starting from his jawline, all the way up to where his ear connects with his face. The bruise has certain indentations of raised skin in between, indicating fingers. Someone hit him, really hard. And it wasn't a punch or a kick in a fight. Someone slapped him with emotional intention.

"Who hit you," Jason demands, voice like steel. Dick finally pushes him off, but the force he applies it sends himself stumbling backwards because of how uncoordinated he is in this state. Dick sits on the ground, breathing heavily. "Stop, Jason. I told you i'm _fine_."

"Answer the question."

Jason isn't having it. He's on the verge of calling Oracle, or Alfred, or Tim, Damain, Duke, Steph, Cass, Kate or anyfuckingbody or even fucking Bruce just to scream what the actual _fuck_.

Dick could just about melt into the ground right now. The whole situation was entirely humiliating.  
  
"Goddamnit Dick, who did this to you?!"

He can't do this. He hates it. Hates the look on Jasons face. He just wants to escape, 

He wants to run and _hide_.

  
  
"Bruce, okay?" Dick shouts. And Jason freezes, unblinking. 

 

"Say---Say that again?"

 

"I fucked up, he hit me. Is that what you wanted to know, Jason?" Dick said, tone low and scary. "I told you, that i'm _fine_. So just believe it, and leave me alone." And with that, Nightwing retrieves his mask and flips backwards off the roof before Jason could even comprehend anything.  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

Tim and Damian, if they put their problems with Bruce aside, admired and trusted him. Jason's gut wrenched at the thought of them going home after patrol to him, right after what'd he'd done to Dick. By the looks of the hit, Batman was furious. Him going back to the manor in that state of mind was not safe. If Bruce was capable of doing something like that to his eldest, whats stopping him from his two youngest?

So Jason took it upon him to make his presence known. If Dick was trembling before Jason was trembling furiously with rage. He was gonna have a _real good "chat"_ with the guy.

The Red Hood is getting on his bike when he actually takes a moment to look around him. The sky is starting to get lighter, indicating sunrise, and Jason has to stop himself. The Night really helped him go through with his anger and act without thinking, and now he realises that him barging into the manor at this time when they're all probably getting into bed after patrol would just make him look like a madman. No one would listen to him.

 

So he calls Tim instead.

 

"Hello?" A tired voice responds, it sounds whiny. "Jay, it's 5am."

 

Jason lets out a shaky breath before responding semi-normally. "Timbers. Timothy. How dare you say that to me when you're clearly not in bed and sleeping like you should be?"

 

"What do you want?"

 

"Is Bruce home?" Jason tries to make it sound like a genuine question and not a demand.

 

"No, he's off with the League. It's just me Alfred and the Demon at the Manor." The voice sounds more alert now. "Speaking of, Dick was staying the week here but he still isn't back. You see him?"

 

Jason exhales. Even though he really wanted to pummel Bruce into a concrete wall, he's kind of glad he's away from the bat brats. But that doesn't mean Jason is gonna hide what happened. He wasn't the type of guy to keep secrets and sugarcoat things. They deserved to know.

 

"Yeah-uh listen, Replacement." He starts, thinking about what to say. They were never gonna believe him like this.

Maybe he could convince Tim, Damian he wasn't so sure. Both Nightwing and Batman were two perfect figures in their lives. News like this without any evidence just wouldn't add up to them. And Jason doesn't blame them.

 

"What? Is Dick okay?"

 

"He's," Jason bites his lip. "He's fine." _Sure._ "He's not injured, but i do need you guys to meet me,"

 

Tim sounds wary. "Now?"

 

"No. Meet me at the docks on your next patrol." And with that he shuts the phone, sighing.

 

_Grayson, what have you gotten into?_

 

-

 

"This isn't a social call." Tim states.

 

"No --when is it ever, Replacement?"

 

"You called us to ask a favor."

 

"Yes — no, wait." Jason crosses his arms. "Is it really considered a favour if its concerning Di-Nightwing?"

 

"Hm," Tim ponders, "Depends. Whats wrong with Nightwing?"

 

"Who said there was anything wrong with him?" Jason counters, not really sure how to go about this. This plan seemed good all up until the bat brats actually showed up in front of him. This wasn't exactly news he wanted to break to a 14 and 17 year old, both who live under the care of Bruce.

 

Tim gives him an unimpressed look, and if his Red Robin mask wasn't so large on his face Jason could even see him raising a brow. "You called us here, to talk about Nightwing, _without_ Nightwing actually being here. Something is either wrong with him, or you've just got beef with him that you want us to solve." He says flatly. "Take your pick, hood."

 

"Enough!" Damian pushes the two apart, facing Jason and looking up at him with a typical bat glare. "What have you done with Grayson?"

 

"No names in the field," Tim says boredly at the same time as Jason says "Excuse me?" 

 

 " _You_ were the last out of all of us that has seen him, Todd." The kid sneers. "And ever since then he hasn't returned home, or answered any calls."

 

Damian's comment takes Jason back to that night, two nights ago when he'd found Dick on the rooftop. He can't forget the sight of the large bruise stretching across his face, and how _disturbed_ and disoriented his brother looked. The fact that the last thing Dick said to him was that it was _Bruce_ who did that to him. It made Jasons blood boil in ways that could not be healthy.

 

"And so you think _I_  did something? Thats-wow. Didn't think you could be more of a little shit than you already--"

 

Jason was so taken aback that night, that he couldn't manage to catch up with his brother who ran off. It was those kinds of things people say at it sounds so surreal, yet somehow Jason knew he should've expected it.

 

 " _Robin_ ," Tim interrupts before Jason could finish that sentence. "Nightwing is in Bludhaven. O updated me on his location an hour ago, and by the looks of it, he's fine. That is," He looks at Jason pointedly. "Unless you wanna tell us what you think is wrong with him?"

 

Jason frowned at the new information. He'd expected Dick to flee back to his city, just not without informing his brothers which he always did. Then again, after what happened it looked obvious he did not want to see anyone until he pulled himself together. _Stupid fool_.

He just wasn't sure how to go about this situation, he doesn't think the bat brats will listen. They're clearly upset about Dick's sudden absence, and even though Tim is maintaining a strict poker face, both are stood wary and suspicious of Jason. It hurt his feelings a bit but he pushed it aside, he wasn't a very welcoming guy in the past anyways, and Dick obviously wasn't gonna say anything about what happened to him. So someone had to do it.

"This-" Jason started, sucking in a breath. "I need you to tell me everything, and i mean everything you know about the arms deal that occurred here two nights ago."

 

Red Robin tilts his head in confusion. "What does that have to do with--"

 

"Just tell him Drake. What do we have to loose?" Damian scowls, crossing his arms. He's acting uninterested but Jason can see he's dying to know what he has to say about Dick.

 

"Fine," Tim taps on his wrist computer and a screen pops up. "But i think you already know what happened here."

 

"Have you seen the footage?" 

 

"Yeah,"

 

"And? What do you think, detective boy?"

 

Tim lets out a long suffering sigh. He swipes at the screen to show the bit where the footage cuts off. He looks up at Jason with an annoyed stare. "Listen, i know Bru- Batman cut the footage off. Oracle isn't too happy about it either. But B hasn't come back yet--he's still off with the League- so she said she won't look into it because clearly Nightwing seems fine. The only reason we postponed our regular patrol to meet with you is--"

 

"Nightwing left without telling you and won't answer your calls." Jason frowns, and Tim nods but continues talking.

 

"Di- Nightwing told us that day he was operating here at the docks. And from the looks of it he was up against Deathstroke. _But-"_ He gestures with his arms to the place they were stood in. "Theres no containers here, so Nightwing _failed_ to stop the deal."

 

"Thats not possible Drake! Grayson is not _that_ incompetent, even against Deathstroke he manages to create a diversion!" 

 

"I'm not done yet, Robin," Tim doesn't spare a glance at him, he's still glaring up at Jason, but it seems directed at something else. "I did some digging with Oracle, and we found out what was in the containers."

 

"Spill, Replacement. Im dying over here."

 

"C5-789. The chemical substance that-"

 

"The blackmarket one designed to destroy the Justice League," Jason finished. "I was keeping that shit out of the Gotham crime circles! That _fucking bitchass merc_ -"

 

Robin lets out a huff of shocked air at the name. "Why hadn't you discussed this with me before, Drake? I could have warned Father you insipid fool!"

 

"Thats exactly why, _Damian_." Tim's mouth twists in annoyance, breaking his own enforced 'no names' rule. "B was obviously present at the scene. He's the one who bought the substance. And to double check-" He pulls up another screen. "I hacked into the League's joint account, which is mainly Batman's which made it so easy to tell." Tim shoves the screen at Jasons face, who squints at it through his hood, there's obviously been a _big_ purchase thats been made recently.

 

"What the fuck, Timothy." _Yeah, what was that rule again?_ "Okay so Bruce and the fucking Justice League was here, two nights ago, to fulfil a contract with fucking _Deathstroke_." Jason felt dread, and his mouth suddenly became dry. He takes a moment to take his hood off and run a hand through his hair stressfully. 

The two younger boys stared at Jason, wide eyed. "Hood, what are you thinking?" Tim says, and there is alarm to his voice.

 

"I'm thinking, Batman, and the fucking Justice League, interrupted Nightwing, while he was trying to stop an arms deal, that actually concerned  _Batman and the Justice League,_ " Jason said, turning around to face the other way, hands on his hips. "What the shit do you think I'm thinking, Replacement?"

 

Tim can already guess what happened. But there is a tense pause, and it's because Tim is mostly annoyed at the whole situation and the way Jason seems to know something that they don't. Damian breaks the silence. 

 

"Father and Grayson must have had.... _a disagreement._ " He says tentatively, because the expression on Jason's face is something he can recognise as the need for vengeance. He'd know it. "But this is not a rare occurrence, Todd."

 

Jason lets out a sarcastic chuckle, and its because he's put two and two together. _Batman really just took his anger out on his Nightwing--for being at a scene and obviously resisting, because thats what Dick fucking does--but in front of an entire, fucking audience,_ he thinks.

 

 _"Holy hell._ Bruce just reached a new level of _low_." he announces, and he turns around to grab Tim's arm. "Where is he? Where the fuck is he?" 

 

"Wha-Calm down!" Tim pushes Jason off of him, looking at him incredulously. "Dude, i told you that he's with the League. I told you two nights ago when Dick went missing and you called us to meet us here at the docks on our next patrol."

 

Jason is still facing Tim aggressively, but he seems to be deep in thought. " _When_ is he back."

 

"We don't know yet, i wasn't even home when he left, Hood. I just got back from the Titans last week, he's been working on something-well, _on this contract_ with the League way before that."

 

Jason backs off some after Tim informs him of this and lets out a fresh new string of curses.

If he could, he would've hit the batcave guns blazing the night he saw what had happened. But now that Jasons anger is cleared out all he can do is think tactically. Running in and yelling at Bruce for yet another reason would just have him get ignored, and Jason didn't usually have to think much when he wanted to rage at Bruce. Just that he knew he had to rage at him for something. But this concerned something about someone he cared about, whether he ever would actually admit it out loud or not. He had to test the waters to see how much support and evidence he had on this first.

 

"Jason, they argue all the time. Dick tends to get on his nerves and Bruce thinks he's right all the time. You don't need to get all worked up about nothing-"

 

"He did it in front of the _League_ , Tim." 

 

"Did what, Todd?" Robin presses. "You've been acting like a moron this whole meeting and not telling us what the matter is,"

 

Jason lets out a breath through his nose, rubbing his hands at his eyes. Bruce appeared to be okay with kids, he is generally, okay with kids. Before the pit, Bruce never hit him unprovoked. But they got into a lot of physical fights, which could be passed off as just training or sparring. These kinds of lines were blurry in their line of work, which additionally just made this situation more messed up. Jason remembers his time living with Bruce as a kid was like living five star hotel as compared to being on the streets, where he would regularly get beat on by cops or thugs, and even before that by his own dad. And now, he realises what he had ignored in the past.

 

"He hit him."

 

"Um," Tim and Damian look at each other. "Okay, so they had a physical fight."

  
Dick and Bruce fought a lot. Their fights had reached their peak when Bruce took him in, and he remembers some nights when Dick was at the Manor. He remembers hearing their shouting matches all the way up in his room, and in the morning that followed, Dick always seemed to be sporting some kind of black eye, or a mark on his wrist where someone grabbed him too tight etc. But he never questioned it at the time. He was a kid himself, and stuff like that was regular to him. Living with Bruce was a fantasy compared to his previous conditions. So he'd ignored it.

 

"No, Replacement." Jason growls. "He _hit_ him. Unprovoked."

 

Theres a silence and Jason has two pairs of masked eyes looking up at him.

 

"Listen Red Hood," Red Robin starts, tone suddenly professional. "I know you have a lot of issues against Batman. Most of them which are, admittedly, justified. But you can't just call us all the way here just so you can say things-"

 

"How are you accuse Father of being the very thing he wars against!" Robin is standing between the two now, landing fists on Jason who blocks them. "You lying vermin!"

 

This can't be happening.

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

After letting Damian attack him for a moment, Jason finally pushes him off, pointing a finger at him in warning. "Back off. Why in the absolute hell would i lie about something like this?"

 

There is a pause. "Since when have you been trustworthy in the past, Hood?" Damian counters."You will say anything to make Father look bad,"

 

_Ouch._

 

 

"Robin, calm down. Let's not say anything we'll regret saying to each other." Red Robin says. Jason is positively fuming by now, and the young detective seems to be staring at him in deep contemplation.

 

"Speak for yourself, Drake. How can you let him make such an accusation about- about _Batman_! To say that he- that he would _ever_ resort to-"

 

Tim's stern gaze softens when he hears Damian falter, and Jason is also partially staring at the kid in sympathy and understanding. Damian had had his fair share of abusive parenting when he was back with the League of Assassins. Although he had grown up like that, once he'd come to live in Gotham he had realised the implications of what he had suffered through and how _wrong_ it was. If there was anyone who would be triggered by such a thing, it'd be him.

 

"Wait, listen," Tim begins. "There's a whole lot of context missing from this scenario. Batman- does things that without knowing the whole story...can sound pretty disturbing, so- 

 

"You don't fucking believe me, do you Replacement?"

 

"-we should hear what evidence Jason has to back it up."

 

Jason looks at him with his eyes narrowed. "What the fuck? I have nothing to offer other than the fact that Dick _admitted_ to it himself after i saw the bruise Bruce left on him. What else do you want me to say, huh?"

 

Damian stares at him, horrified. Tim looks at him in faint surprise at the sudden new information, but keeps a blank expression. "You could-"

 

"What? Drag Dick back here to show it to you? Bruises like that heal, its something that's been happening under all our noses but we, a family of detectives never seemed to notice, because we get bruises like that everyday. Because we all know Dick is reckless and stupid and he's always got some bruise or another. Who's to know what the story is behind them?" Jason scoffs. "But what's the point? I can read your fucking face, Timmers. You believe me, but you don't _want_ to."

 

"No, Jason I-" Tim starts. He glances briefly at Damian. "-believe that...."

 

"No. No way Drake. He's _lying_!"

 

".... _you_ believe what you're saying is the truth." He finishes.

Jason growls in frustration, carding a hand through his hair again. This was a useless effort. Bruce had the two instilled heavily with loyalty and they weren't going to abandon that loyalty anytime soon. Jason was really counting on Tim though, he was usually the one who believed and consulted Jason in all things against Batman.

 

"Besides Todd, if Batman were to ever...do such a ridiculous thing...Grayson would have had to have done something wrong..so that Batman could punish him such..." Damian says faintly, and he's speaking from experience. "And Grayson wouldn't do anything wrong for him to have done that."

 

"Abuse isn't limited to disobedience Damian," Red Robin says. "And calling it punishment doesn't make it right either,"

 

"I know,"

 

"If the both of you understand this so well," Jason begins to put his helmet back on. This wasn't going to work. He can't convince them immediately but he can at least warn them. "Then you'd be considering what i have to say, very carefully. Don't engage in any conversation on the previous events with Bruce. In fact, just stay away from him."

 

"First you drop such news to us," Damian says incredulously. "And then you expect us to not confront Father on this accusation you've placed on him?"

 

"Just tell me when Bruce gets back okay. Don't tell him that i asked. You clearly don't have the full idea on what he's been up to."

 

"Hood, we appreciate your concern man, just..." Tim sighs. "Whatever. We'll tell you when Bruce gets back so that you guys can...sort out whatever it is thats going on between you."

 

Jason exhales through his nose. He knows the two of them can't help but defend their guardian, but he knows that he's created a suspicion so at least they'll be wary, and thats the best he can hope for at the moment. His job here is done. And besides, he has an older brother he needs to check on. "Fine. See you brats later," He turns to leave.

 

"Todd-wait!" 

 

He stops, without turning around. "What, Robin?"

 

"We will....not discuss this with Father, as per your..request." He says. "I shall erase the footage from this meeting from my mask as well."

 

Tim scoffs lightly, "Oracle will revive it easily dude,"

 

"..So that _Father_ may not see it."

 

Theres a pause and Tim reaches up to his mask too. "I'll do it too."

 

Jason's lip quirks upwards briefly. "Thanks kid. I'll talk to Oracle about keeping this on the low before i get to talk with Bruce."

 

"Hood!" Red Robin calls as Red Hood is about to shoot a line with his grapple. "Keep us updated.. on Nightwing's situation."

 

"Will do, Red Robin." Jason replies, feeling slightly more sure of their position on the matter. 

 

As Red Hood lands in the alley he had parked his bike in, he remembers Damian's gesture of erasing the footage from his mask. He felt stupid that he didn't even consider thier masks recorded everything, Bruce could have seen this meeting and would've been prepared with a whole plan and explanation for his actions.

 

 _Wait_ , Hood thinks.

 

_Mask footage._

 

_It's not just the bat brats masks that record everything._

 

_Nightwing's does too._

 

With that thought Jason presses his comms as he starts his bike. 

 

"O? Im on my way to Bludhaven. Is there any chance you can send me Nightwing's mask recordings from two nights ago?"


	7. Chapter 7

 

The one main thing that Dick retained from the circus--other than having a huge heart and need for family--was an addiction to adventure, the feeling of flying free, and being constantly on the move. Bruce had taken him in when he was fairly young, so Dick had to adapt to a lot of the man's qualities that had now been ingrained into him that made him the person he was today.

 

As social as he was, he had started to isolate himself in times of vulnerability. He kept his identity and activities private from his true friends and stayed immensely loyal to the Bat, no matter the situation. But since at the time Dick craved attention and a parental figure after the loss of his own, he was fine with being under the Bats cape and in his shadow. 

 

However there were still times when that reserve he kept cracked, and he felt the need to break free. He loved and trusted Bruce, the man raised him. But sometimes when things were tense between them he would rebel, just to feel that same feeling of freedom and adventure he longed for ever since he left the circus. 

 

Thats when Bruce would panic. Dick read people easily, and he knew the man, the control freak that he is, was scared of loosing control over his ward. Since Dick was younger it was easier for Bruce to "discipline him"  after he disobeyed. Dick hated it, he felt like he couldn't speak, or cry, or move whenever it happened. It made him constantly question whether rebelling was even worth it.

 

Immediately after he would close in on himself, and not talk to anyone. He felt like if he interacted with people they'd be able to tell.

 

He trusts Bruce with his life. He would die for him. He assumes there is only something wrong with himself.

 

Dick never speaks about it. He never wants people to know, how he's failed the Bat. How disappointed he is in him.

 

_If you weren't like this, Bruce wouldn't have yelled at you. He wouldn't have h-_

 

He works on himself. He does things, impossible things to gain the Batman's approval again.

 

His family calls him the 'reckless one' or the 'adrenaline junkie'. Jason tells him to stop stealing his image.

 

Swinging through the skyscrapers of Gotham City, free as bird, was normally an experience Dick could never grow out of. Having Batman constantly breathing down your neck and wearing a costume so well known to be the one considered as "the sidekick of the Bat" was something he definitely did grow out of.

Becoming Nightwing, although it was one of the better things he had done for himself, temporarily gave him the feelings of freedom he craved for. A different city, no limits.

But Bruce always, always managed to get into his head. The man barely emotionally connected or spoke with him, but for some reason Dick always found himself returning to being that same little boy, complying to whatever the Bat had to say.

 

Soon, what were forms of discipline had become forms of showing disapproval. It was a way Bruce conveyed how he didn't like what his son was doing. And Dick, had learned to accept it as just thier form of normalcy. 

 

He knew Bruce did not repeat the same things with Jason. As soon as Dick left, and the man had taken in the other boy Dick had already realised that this was a fresh start that he wanted.

 

Dick was both upset, that this was somehow limited to him only, and relieved that it was, somehow limited to him only. He shrugged it off as collateral damage of being the first child. As long as it stayed between them, he didn't have to think about it.

 

_Swinging through the skyscrapers of Gotham City, free as bird, was normally an experience Dick could never grow out of._

His hands are trembling so hard he has to have a death grip on his grapple to shoot a line. He stumbles in between swings from one building to another. 

 

Something that he had never ever spoken about to a living soul, or ever indicated about to anyone,

 

had now been witnessed by some highly trained mercenaries 

 

Deathstroke,

 

and the entire Justice League.

 

Dick flees from Gotham once again.

 

-

 

The Red Hood arrives in Bludhaven.

 

"Lil' wing?" A heap of messy dark hair can be seen when the door to Dick's apartment creaks open slightly. Blue eyes peek out from under those bangs, and Jason can see how heavy lidded and sunken they looked. _He must've been up all night._ "What're you doing here?" 

 

"Hey, Big bird," Jason replies. He can only really see the top half of his brothers face as he hid behind the door, and he wonders what the bruise from the last time he saw him must look like now. "You look like shit."

 

Dick blinks wordlessly back at him, unsure of what exactly to say to that. He hadn't been expecting Jason to actually follow him to Bludhaven. He'd figured if someone wanted to question his sudden disappearance they'd have done it the morning after he left Gotham. Okay, admittedly he did receive a long string of calls and messages from his siblings so he disclosed his location to Oracle just to shut them up. She understood that he didn't want to talk, but now he suspects that she must've sent Jason here to check in.

Dick bites his lip, continuing to stare back at his brother. Though normally he'd be ecstatic that Jason had finally come to his place, he really wasn't in the mood for a house visit right now.

 

"Why are you here, Jay?"

 

Jason raises a brow. "A guy can't check up on his brother? I see how it is, asshole."

 

"You never visit me Jason," Dick replies flatly. "Listen, if its about... _that_ , then i told you I'm-"

 

"Yeah, yeah i know Dickhead." Jason interrupts, pushing the door and causing Dick to stumble out of the way. "You're ' _fine_.'" He says with finger quotes, but stops dead when he notices Dick's full face now that the door is out of the way.

 

“Umm, S’up?” Dick greeted Jason sheepishly now that his full face was in view. He was dressed in sweats and a grey t-shirt, and was holding an icepack to his jaw. Other than his eyebags and drained expression, Jason could see the mark of the hit on his brothers face in a much clearer light. The bruise was a striking purple shade, and although it was now smaller in size, it still made Jason grind his teeth whenever he saw it. Because he knew who put it there, and how dare-

 

Jason's gaze falls onto his brothers jaw, which is also bruised, but these ones are fresh.

 

"Di- what is that?" Jason goes to reach for his face but Dick flinches backwards. Blood dribbles down his chin, and he quickly reaches up and wipes it away with the back of his sleeve.

 

"I- I just got back from patrol," He explains, shrugging his shoulders defensively. Suddenly, he became very conscious of the people standing in the open corridor of the apartment complex they were in. He moves to the side to let his brother in."Uh, you can come inside."

 

Jason takes note of his brother's anxious body language and complies.

 

"Its 7am. Pretty late to come back from patrol, don't ya think, Goldie?"

 

 Dick ignores him. "Whats that smell?" He asks, his nose wrinkling,

 

"It was rainin', and muddy. Take a wild fucking guess." Jason mutters as he takes his boots off before stepping in. Hey, he had a habit of keeping living spaces clean. Which was quite the opposite with Dick, because the moment he steps in he sees what looks like a whirlwind came and left trash all over the apartment.

 

"Dude," Jason huffs out a breath. "Why is it that both you and Tim have no sense of keeping your own living space clean. Sheesh."

 

Dick looks at Jason unimpressed as he picks up a sock from the kitchen island and a pair of jeans from the floor, swinging them in front of Dick as if to make a point.

 

"I haven't had the time to clean," The older murmurs tiredly, then wincing slightly as he held the ice pack to his jaw again."If i knew you were coming over i'd've-"

 

"Lies, Dickiebird. You're a slob and you know it." 

 

Dick's lips quirk upwards. "You come visit me out of the blue, and the first thing you have to say is 'damn bitch you live like this?'. Im hurt, Jason."

 

Jason raises a brow at the dramatics. "You learn that from Tim?" He gets a snort in response. He cant help but notice Dick's Nightwing suit discarded on the floor with the rest of his dirty clothes, mask included. If only he could snatch the mask without Dick noticing...

 

"Seriously, i can't tell what your place looks like because of all the shit you've got lying arou---are you working on a case?" Jason stops his tirade on the state of Dicks apartment when his gaze falls over to the coffee table, where there are about a dozen papers laying askew, some falling on the floor.

 

"Um-" Dick gently throws his icepack onto the couch and steps in front of him casually, blocking the table from sight. "It's nothing, just the usual."

 

"The usual." Jason echoes, narrowing his eyes at Dick.

 

"Yeah."

 

"So tell me...what's the usual?" Dick was an amazing liar, but in front of his family of detectives it was a wasted effort.

 

"Oh you know, just-" Dick tries, and he definitely looks like he's feeling attacked. "Some reported missing persons. I was just making sure it wasn't tied to anything larger,"

 

"Uh-huh."

 

"Yep."

 

Jason is staring him down, clearly not buying it. Why was he the only one who was able to completely blunt and honest about everything? It sure made things a lot simpler. Without warning Jason grabs Dick's arm and pushes him onto the couch, ignoring the resulting squak and quickly stepping over his flailing limbs to get to the coffee table.

 

"I don't know Dickie, that's a shit ton of papers for just a fucking missing persons case."

 

"Jason!"

 

Jason taps the laptop that was left open on the table and the screen lights up, showing multiple tabs with information on weapons deals in both Gotham and Bludhaven. Jason huffs through his nose, turning around to look at Dick pointedly, who was recovering from his fall on the couch while glaring daggers at his brother.

 

"You say you're fine but all the evidence here indicates you're not over it, Dick." 

 

"Because _i am_ fine-"

 

Jason makes a frustrated sound that causes Dick to shut up immediately, eyes still silently giving off the look of betrayal and annoyance.  _Okay, this wasn't going too well._

 

"Look," Jason tries, more calmer. This wasn't Dick's fault, its Bruce he should be raging at. It didn't help the guy that Jason himself was trying to release all his pent up frustration on the matter, but it wasn't like he was the one that was good at consolation. That was Dick's area. And it was just his luck that Dick was the one who needed help right now.

__

"If you needed help on this-"

 

"I don't."

 

Jason exhales through his nose again. This was really an exercise of patience, which he was not made to do. 

 

"You don't have to go through this alone, is what i want to say."

 

Theres a heavy silence where Dick looks like his heart has just been exposed to his brother entirely without him having said anything at all, and he clearly looks uncomfortable. Dick liked to express his emotions, but even the most open of people had insecurities, and Jason had just seemed to hit one.

 

"Im not going through anything. You're making a big deal out of nothing," 

 

Dick rubs the sleep from his eyes, stands up wordlessly and goes to walk away but Jason grabs his arm. The older pauses, not looking back at his brother.

 

"Whatever happened to you was _wrong_ , Dickiebird. You cant ignore it like you ignore the rest of your problems."

 

Dick pulls his arm out of Jasons grip. He sounds pissed as he snaps, "Jason," and then a moment later he gestures to the messy coffee table and says, "The papers-Its precaution. I was careless and uninformed before. Now I'm just making sure i don't miss out on any activity relating to this chemical, alright? Thats _all_."

 

Jason sighs, watching as his brother went to go retrieve his ice pack and put it back on his jaw. It looked like it hurt. But nothing hurt more than the way Dick was acting. It reminded Jason of the way he used to act, some few years ago, and Dick would be the one trying to get him to open up. Jason hated this turn of tables.

 

"Okay," He says, lifting his hands in defeat. "But i want to know why you were ignoring Tim and Damians calls, if you say you're fine."

 

Dick looks at him, a bit taken aback by the question, but recovers quickly, expression neutral. "You...discussed this with them?" He desperately tries to sound conversional but his voice is wobbly and a little too breathy.

Jason has to break eye contact with Dick at that. He feels bad and invasive and certainly would not like it if Dick had done that. But he had to do it.

 

"Stop deflecting. Answer the question."

 

Dick looks truly betrayed, he's starting at Jason in a way that makes his heart clench. If he was trying to convince Jason that he was fine, this certainly put all his efforts to waste.

 

His silence alone answers the question for Jason.

 

"If its any consolation, Dick," He starts. "They don't believe me." Lies. Jason could see the horror and suspicion in their eyes when he told them. They just wouldn't admit it, out of loyalty. Which is exactly what Dick is doing right now, how he's handling whatever happened to him. Out of loyalty.

 

Dick says nothing,  he just puts the ice pack down and runs a hand through his hair.

 

"I had to warn them, Dick." 

 

Dick stills. He's facing away from Jason, hands on the kitchen counter his his head bowed. Jason hovers closer.

 

"He won't hurt them." Dick whispers, finally. You could barely hear it, but Jason had moved closer to him, hand suspended in the air, unsure of what to do.

 

Jason thinks he's getting closer to actually talking about the problem at hand. "How can you be so sure?"

 

What he doesn't expect is Dick to snap his head back towards him, eyes red and glassy with new tears threatening to fall. "It's- only me."

 

Jason stares back, shocked, and unsure of what to do. Thats when Dick quickly wipes at his eyes with his sleeve and in seconds neutralises his expression, as if nothing ever happened. 

 

"Im sorry Jay, I've been a bad host." He says, as if he needed to apologise for something like that when he was clearly going through a lot worse. "You want something to drink?" He moves, opening cupboards and the fridge, busying his hands with housework.

 

Jason has to shake himself out of the trance he'd gone into to respond. 

 

"Yeah, j-just water. Thanks."

 

As much as he wanted to stay and, well, be here for his brother who was obviously hurting, this was the perfect time to snatch the mask while Dick was busy.  

Jason exhales, promising himself that he'd come back to check in again. He takes the mask and slips out of the window before Dick came out of the kitchen.

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey y'all, ik its been a while but i'll be updating regularly for a bit again :) also thank you for your comments! they give me motivation to post frequently. enjoy!

Nightwing drops down onto the cold hardwood floor of the empty warehouse. He takes a moment to register his surroundings for any other signs of movement, before standing upright once satisfied that the coast was clear.

 

Security was a bitch to get through, which makes sense, seeing as this warehouse belonged to none other than the mercenary Deathstroke.

 

He wasn't actually here to see the mercenary, though.

 

In fact, he's really hoping there won't be an encounter, like, really hoping. Usually dealing with Slade was time consuming, but the two had a history. So unless he was interfering in Slade's business, the merc wasn't really a threat to him. In fact Dick might even say they'd formed some kind of an alliance against common enemies. 

 

But this case was different. This time Nightwing was getting in the way, and he was in Slade's warehouse, stealing info that would help him bust the mans own contracts.

 

And what made it worse was what had happened at the docks. Nightwing now had a huge weakness exposed to him now.

 

No matter how many allies or truces he'd kept with various morally ambiguous people he knew, he's never let them have any leverage over him. Never shown vulnerability. What happened at the docks had changed things now. Dick knew Nightwing was a popular subject of conversation among the criminal underworld. He was the first robin, after all. Whatever had happened must have spread like wildfire, if not by Slade, then by the thugs that were there at the scene.

 

Dick feels like if he were to encounter another criminal he wouldn't be hearing the end of it. Not to mention the amount of creepy old villains that have been after him in the past, trying to convince him to leave Batmans side and join them.

Slade included. 

 

But that didn't matter. Whatever dignity he had was pretty much tarnished and forgotten. 

 

What matters is the chemical thats been going around. The damage had already been done with the contract, him failing to destroy it, like it should've been.  Now the League supposedly bought it off of Deathstroke hands but.....

No matter how much Jason had prodded at him the other day, he wasn't about to let _anything_ else slip his watch now.

 

Yeah. Dick was really in on this case.

 

Which is why he was currently running on about an hour of sleep, after having actually tracked down more possible locations for the chemical. More chemical meant more contracts for mercs. So he'd put two and two together and figured Deathstroke would most likely be in on the next contract. If Nightwing can get to the chemical before any of them, he can be the one to destroy it.

Batman should be proud of his efficiency. Well, maybe he would, if Dick wasn't destroying the chemical and handing it over to him, that is.

 

_Sigh._

 

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Nightwing stealthily makes his way over to the computer in the warehouse, careful not to trigger any alarms. It takes him a few minutes to actually find documents of relevance, but its enough for him to deduce how this is all gonna go down. He just has to take all this info with him now. He pulls out a flash drive from his glove compartment.

 

"Hmm, you could've knocked, pretty bird."

 

 _Shit_. Not an empty warehouse.

 

"Yeah? Whats the fun in that?" Dick says cooly, he calms his breathing and doesn't turn around, casually continuing his task of uploading the documents into his flash drive. The more he reacted to Slade, the worse it could turn out for him. 

 

Slade, unfortunately for him, seemed to be in a chatty mood. The man leered closer, and Dick could sense his presence right behind him, tall shadow visible in front of him, indicating that he was looming over him. Dick practically held his breath as he worked.

 

"Impressive." Slade commented after a while, observing the computer screen. "You're the only bat brat that is actually aware that there wasn't one, but multiple distributions of the substance."

 

"Or the only one who cares." 

 

"Untrue. The Justice League seemed very interested."

 

"Yeah, maybe as buyers." Dick snorted, typing a bit more furiously. "Im on a completely different mission here, Slade."

 

"Figured you'd still be interested in destroying the shipments of C5-789. Daddy's warning wasn't enough?"

 

Dick paused at that, mouth going dry. He definitely expected the merc to touch the topic, its just that Dick didn't really mentally prepare himself for this. He wasn't really prepared for any of this. And he was hating every second of his existence right now. Dick had a lot to say. He had a lot of things he could screech at the top of his lungs right now. And at the same time, he's at a loss for words. What could he even say that wouldn't make people see him as some feral, disobedient child?

He settles for a firm "No."

 

To his surprise, Slade doesn't mock him, or even let out a sound of amusement. The man is silent, almost contemplating. Dick is almost done with the files.

 

"The two of you created quite a scene, and he sure picked the right time to express his distrust in you." A pause. "I can only imagine the complete and utter  _betrayal_ you must be experienc-"

 

"Stop." Nightwing says. "Just stop."

 

"Am i wrong?" Slade sneered. "The man you call your guardian, the man you lay your life out for discards you like a piece of garbage and you deny it?"

 

Dick already knew what Slade was getting at. _This_ bit, he was expecting. Ever since he was Robin the mercenary had been trying to get him to join his side, promising him things in exchange for his loyalty to him, the way he was with Batman. It's obvious that an incident such as this would give the man the perfect opportunity to prove to Dick how right he was about Batman all along or whatever.

 

Nightwing grabs the usb and pulls it out of the computer, swivelling around to face Slade head on. "There has been no discarding, or disowning, Slade. B is like that, and has been like that since i was a kid, it's nothing new. So you can stay out of my personal business, clear?"

 

 _That_ , has Slade looking at him, well, very weirdly. Its an expression he's never really seen on the mans face, but something about it makes Dick feel like he's said something so atrocious even Deathstroke the mercenary is taken aback.

 

"Grayson," He says, and it irritates Dick every time he uses his last name because it reminds him that this man knows everything about his civilian self.

 

Dick chooses not to respond, instead just looking at him impatiently.

 

"Ever since you were a kid?" Slade repeats, his expression turns grim. "Bruce Wayne has been using you as a punching bag ever since you were a kid, is what you want to convey, here." His voice raises an octave suddenly. "You must be real thick in the head to not realise how that sounds, boy."

 

Dick's eyes flew up to meet Slade's dark ones(eyepatch included), his breath hitching. "I- Wow, just wow." Dick responds, wondering why in the hell he was having this conversation with a mercenary. "This is rich, coming from the guy who literally murders people for money! So you can be a killer but what? You draw the line at child abuse? Thats fucking rich Slade. You've beaten me to a pulp before, if you remember. I was fifteen."

 

Slade steps into his space. "I never said i wasn't a Bad man, Grayson. You know who i am."

 

"So then what, is your fucking problem."

 

" _You_ choose to allow yourself to be in such close proximity with me, and various others like me." Slade grabs his chin roughly, forcing him to make eye contact. Slade has always been a bit creepy like that. "Now im starting to think you're drawn to these kinds of situations because of your upbringing with a guardian with such similar methods."

 

Dick panics, and growls. "Let go of me."

 

"And since you've been having exposure to such treatment since you were a child, this is normalcy for you." Slade pulls his face closer. "I believe, they call it Stockholm syndrome. I'd know, its what i tried with you in order to get you under my control."  


"Bullshit Slade." Dick hisses.

 

"But is it?" The mercenary is less grim now, and he seems like he's made a revelation. "Here i am, cornering you." He grabs his chin harder. "And yet you're still here, frozen like a doll."

 

Dick's mind is racing, and he really can't breathe, his face hurts from the tight grip. Stopitstopitstopitstop-

 

"You're out of your mind, kid, if you're trying to come up with some sort of defense for the Bat."

 

Nightwing remembers what he was here for. He remembers the usb in his hand and what he has to do with it. He rips his face out of the older man's grip, teeth bared. 

"I mean, you're as loyal as a dog. You should have left long ago."

 

"Im leaving." Nightwing edges pointedly away from the mercenary, but doesn't break his hard stare. Slade follows him, leaning into his space, too close, their masked faces almost touching. "After all, i know a lot of people who would pay, well, quite literally anything, to have you be their little loyal apprentice, the way you are with Batman." He says, as if its some kind of a statistic of people willing to buy him.

It takes a lot of self control for Dick not to throw up right then and there. He breathes heavily, without breaking eye contact. Slade smirks, and Dick thinks its because he's satisfied with his usual make-nightwing-as-uncomfortable-as-you-can monologue. The hero is convinced the universe created Slade Wilson for just this purpose. 

"Goodbye Slade." Nightwing bares his teeth, abruptly shoving the taller man away before  disappearing into the night.

 

 _I'll give him a head start._ Slade thinks. He wasn't letting the kid run off with a usb that could sabotage his future contracts.

 

 

-

 

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

Tim Drake hadn't slept in 48 hours.

Tim not sleeping wasn't really a new development, there were many things that often kept the teenager up, that's just how his life was, always some case or another. But Dick had been staying over at the manor lately and Bruce was off-world with the League, so things had been kind of slow and steady for a few weeks. He actually had a good streak going, he was sleeping for at least 5 hours everyday. 

 

Until the incident that happened a few days ago.

 

Well, technically he dozed off for about half an hour at his laptop screen last night, but he hadn't really officially made it to bed since patrol day before yesterday.

 

Day before yesterday when he and Damian met their brother on patrol.

 

Not their brother Dick. He had left and wasn't picking up their calls.

 

Their brother Jason. Who almost never initiated any sort of conversation with their family. Who barely ever wanted to speak to them unless he was bored on a mission he was dragged into or if he had something nasty to say about Batman. Thats something that Jason does a lot. Bruce this, Bruce that. And most of the time Tim tends to agree. But this kind of accusation...

 

Now Tim knew Bruce was up to things with the League. But quite frankly he wasn't really concerned at this point. Patrolling Gotham these few weeks had been their top priority so none of the bat family was particularly pressed about League business.

 

But...

Nightwing had gone to the docks, and footage was tampered with. Again, there's a lot of things that Tim doesn't really get too overworked about, it's mostly why he remains as the one rational member of the family. He and Oracle realised Bruce was involved in whatever had happened, but thats a story  they could collectively confront Bruce about when he returned home.

 

But then Dick fled Gotham and Jason was left panicking. _That_ was odd.

And then Jason wanted to warn them. There was something about the desperation in the mans voice, there was something fresh, a new kind of hurt present in his way of talking that had Tim on edge ever since. Not to mention the guy was furious at Bruce, this time not about himself, but for _Dick_.

Dick, the brother that Jason constantly shoves resentment towards for being so perfect, the one he constantly teases for being the Golden Boy to the Bat. His jabs about how Batman only cares about Nightwing, all forgotten.

 

Jason claims that Bruce _hit_ their eldest brother.

 

It's not something that stirs an immediate reaction into Tim. He is kind of a slow person when it comes to emotions, he's usually a be rational first, feelings later kinda guy.

So when Jason had told him, he faced it with reason. Bruce is a stubborn asshole, and Batman is the one in charge. Anyone who challenges that does usually face some kind of retribution, because Bruce is kind of the one figure of authority in their lives.

But Dick can be a stubborn as well. In fact, he has a way of getting on Bruce's nerves in ways Jason couldn't even dream of. So if there ever was a conflict so large between them, Dick wouldn't back down, so it would make sense that Bruce would do such a thing to remind him of his authority.

 

Except, now, as he's been going through it in his head. There are more factors that come into play here. These aren't just two adults in his life having a fallout.

Tim has to remind himself that Dick is also Bruce's _child_. Just like him and Damian are. Just like Jason was- _is_.

 

That brings a strange feeling into Tim's gut. Bruce hit his _kid_. That does not sound okay.

 

It makes Tim's stomach turn. 

 

But his kid is an adult. Bruce hit his adult son. Hm, weird. But not completely outrageous....right?

 

Unless, he had done it before? 

 

No, why would he do that? Bruce never hit him, or Damian. And as far as he knows his time with Jason was a good one. Sure, he's not the most involved as a parental figure, but he's been good with his kids. And Tim knows Bruce cares deeply for his kids. It's not really something you can fake. Maybe Jason just wants to find something against him and blow it out of proportion. Batman was the epitome of self control, he probably had a reason to do it. Maybe it really was just Bruce smacking some sense into his adult son-

 

"Are you gonna eat that Drake? Or will you continue to remain lost in your idiot brain?" 

 

"But then why did he have to do it in front of the Justice League? Couldn't he have waited until he got back?"

 

"What?" Damian looks at Tim like he'd grown two heads. "What are you on about Drake?"

 

Ah, Damian. Tim snaps out of his thoughts, rubbing at his face stressfully. They're sat at the breakfast table in the Manor. Tim notices he has a plate of pancakes set in front of him for some reason, and he doesn't know when Damian got there, because Tim had been sat since 6am.

 

"Answer me at once! Give me your breakfast pancakes if you will not eat them." 

 

"What time is it?" Tim mutters, stretching his arms above his head until there was a sound of his joints popping.

 

"It's 8am, you complete and utter simpleton. Did you not notice Pennyworth put pancakes in front of you? Now if you won't eat them, will you hand them over? Or must I take them by force?" Damian sneers irritably. He's been in a bad mood ever since Dick left, and Tim kind of feels bad for him. Only kind of.

 

Tim looks at him in annoyance. He was still getting sick of dealing with this kid's tantrums, and he also wishes Dick were here. "Why do you even care about asking me? Why don't you just take them, you annoying brat." He pushes his plate towards Damian.

 

Damian forms a thin line with his mouth for a moment, before it breaks into another sneer. "I already did. This is your second plate. I took the first one because you didn't even register its presence."

 

Tim gapes. That fucking brat.

 

"Whatever. I need coffee." 

 

Tim hadn't slept in 48 hours. And he doesn't think he's gonna be sleeping anytime soon.

 

-

 

Nightwing slowly climbed back up the wall, keeping a careful eye on his surroundings in case he needed to duck and cover if Slade followed him. There was no way that the mercenary would let him take information that could ruin his contracts.

Dick bit his lip as he saw his apartment building not too far away. Taking a few deep breaths to calm his nerves, he leapt from the building and rolled onto a lower roof, practically almost crawling across it.

Should be easy enough to double back and get to his apartment, but he couldn't risk it. He didn't need Slade finding out where he lived on top of everything else. He was gonna have to lay low in the nearest bat safe-house if he wanted to keep Slade off his tracks. Especially now that the man knew he had stolen info on the chemical.

Nightwing began to quicken his pace, eager to end the chase. He climbed onto the roof of his building and shot a line towards the next, preparing to zip away.

Hands grabbed his sides just as he was about to reach the edge, pulling him back roughly. Dick growled and used his legs to kick forcefully at the body enclosing him, and he was released. Quickly he makes a leap into the air, shooting another line. But out of the corner if his eye he sees the mercenary aiming at him with a gun and he barely has time to think before twisting his body, narrowly missing whatever had been shot at him.

Thats it. Deathstroke wants a fight so a fight it is.

"Give it up Slade," Nightwing says, dropping back down onto the roof. "You had your fun, it's over now."

Slade lets out a low chuckle. "Did you really think i'd let you take that device? You're even more naive than i gave you credit for, Grayson."

Nightwing snarls. "Cut the crap. I knew you'd follow me." He brings himself down into a defensive stance when he hears the crunch of gravel beneath boots as Deathstroke strides closer, hand outstretched.

"C'mon now, birdie. You know you have more to loose fighting me, than i do." Slade says matter of factly, he had one hand reaching for his katana. "Hand over the drive, and maybe i'll let you go with just a little scratch."

Dick has to admit the man was right. Sure, Nightwing can definitely put up a real fight against Deathstroke, he was known for it. And he's outsmarted the man a million times. But most days he can only do so much as tire the merc out. Without any tactics and relying on mere strength and weapons, the older man could end up ripping him to shreds.

And besides, he really was not in the mood for a battle to the near death over some piece of information in a usb.

Nightwing lets out an amused huff. Its this kind of raw realisation of his own reality that brings out the cockiness in Dick. Slade's hand is still outstretched.

"Huh? You mean this?" Dick pulls the drive out of his glove compartment, holding it up between his fingers for Slade to see. The man's expression is unreadable, and honestly that's what pushes Dick embrace his full bat brat potential.

"You know Slade," He steps closer. "You're absolutely right. Im just gonna hand this right over, and then i'll go home and catch up on Friends. Maybe order a pizza. Comfort stuff."

"Grayson," Slade's makes a move to grab it out of his hands but Dick can be real slippery. Its probably why he makes such a good spy.

"You gonna take it or not Slade?" The usb is in his other blue striped hand now, a movement made so fast any regular person would miss. Slade however, grabs his wrist in warning and squeezes hard. Dick bites his lip in pain.

"Do another circus trick boy, and you'll find two katanas going right through you by the end of tonight."

Dick doesn't really know why Deathstroke hasn't impaled him with a sword by now, but he's hoping whatever it is remains that way. He's got more tricks up his sleeve.

"What a party pooper." Nightwing comments, before quickly flicking the usb from his fingers. It falls onto the ground next to his boot. "Oopsie daisy. huuGH-"

He barely has time to register before Slade is grabbing his throat in a death grip.

"S..slade-" Nightwing gasps, breathlessly begging for release.

Okay, so the plan was find a way out with the usb drive.

But he wasn't about to back down to a challenge without a little fight.

Still, he needed the usb.

Which is why he'd distracted the merc enough to kick the usb off the roof. You know, while he was being choked. Slade releases him immediately, shoving him backwards. "You idiot!"

 

He really should be more careful though, two katanas going through his organs did not sound great.

"w..woop..there it goes.." Dick cackles before breaking out into a wheezing fit. "If i can't have it neither can you."

 

Slade turns to look at him furiously. This was going to be fun. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! thanks for all your comments! im trying to keep my chapters shorter so i can update faster, so im sorry if the story looks like its not getting anywhere, but it'll hopefully all come together soon aha. enjoy!


	10. Chapter 10

"Master Jason? What pleasant surprise" Alfred greets Jason warmly as the front door to the Manor opens. "Welcome home, young sir." he says letting him into the Manor. Jason's heart does something at the stress on the 'home'. The manor was pretty much one of the only places that he had actually lived in for a good while, since before that it was rare for him to have even a roof over his head. So yeah it was home, as much as he'd hate to admit it. But the man who owned his home-

 

Jason sucks in a breath. He's here about Dick. Not that poor excuse of a man.

 

It hurt though, it hurt a lot. Knowing that the man who had taken him in wasn't actually who he'd thought he was. Deep down Jason felt that ultimately that Bruce had loved him as his own child before he died. And he'd never admitted it but he thought Bruce was good, stupid righteous bastard over his own morals but he had good intentions.

Until Dick got older, apparently. It's something that even Jason didn't see coming. Even though he thinks he should have. Jason blames himself for not seeing it in  the fights between them when he was living in the manor. Maybe they had started out as arguments, but Jason had seen his older brother when he was angry. He knew how to talk in ways that could cut, _deep_. It only makes sense that Bruce would've felt the need to apply disciplinary methods. Jason shudders inwardly.

 

He can only wonder if it got worse after he'd died.

 

"Is everything alright, Master Jason?"

 

Jason shudders a breath. "Everythings fine, Alf. Im here to see Tim, It's about D-" He looks behind Alfred to see Tim standing in the doorway, mug of coffee in his hand. He makes eye contact with the boy. Tim frowns.

 

"Its about a case." Tim finishes for him, but still glaring at Jason. "We'll be in the cave Alfred."

 

Alfred looks between the two in a faint concern, before nodding and excusing himself to attend to Damian. Tim grabs Jason by the arm and quickly leads him downstairs.

 

-

 

"What. Are you doing here." Tim seethes the moment they got into the cave and locked all the entrances.

 

Jason hums sarcastically. "Wow, fuck you. I knew i wasn't welcome here. Where's the demon spawn?" 

 

"Upstairs in his room." Tim is still eyeing him suspiciously. "Bruce isn't back, so you don't need to start anything okay-"

 

"I'm not here to see that bastard, Replacement. And good, i don't think i need an emotional teenager to witness this about his dad. Not that i care, but the only person who could possibly console him is stressing out in an apartment all the way in Bludhaven."

 

"Witness what? You went to see Dick?" Tim is interested now, he's grabbing the sleeve of Jasons jacket in a tight grip, tugging at it. "Is he okay?"

 

Jason sighs, pulling the Nightwing mask out of his jacket. Tim looks on in horror. 

 

"Before you freak out- i stole this from him, he's _fine_." Jason winces the moment he says that. "I mean, he's fine _physically_. But, I think he's in denial. Scratch that- he _is_ in denial and is also mentally scarred."

 

"As you keep saying.." Tim mutters, furrowing his brows. He reaches for the Nightwing mask and gingerly takes it from Jason's hands. It makes sense that Dick would be hurt over what Jason claims to have happened to Dick that night, but mentally scarred? They've faced far worse things as vigilantes...

 

"Look, i know you still don't believe me about the whole....Bruce hitting Dick thing. But trust me, it's not something i want to believe either, especially since he hasn't pulled that kinda shit with any of us. No matter how much crap i say about him." 

 

"...Thats what i was thinking, Jason. Bruce isn't like that, like, i know he looks like a complete ass and he can be one too but he isn't- he wouldnt-" Tim lets out a frustrated huff. "What I'm trying to say is that what you're saying, it just doesn't add up. And i thought we all kind of agreed Dick was the favourite, you know? Like not official officially, but you know what i mean. Nothing can really replace the relationship between the first robin and Batman. "

 

"Yeah, clearly he loves him just a bit too fucking much don't you think?" Jason scoffs. "Listen, maybe it does have to do with Dick being the first, i mean, you're all kids, and so was i when i was with Bruce. Dicks an adult, Timmy. So i wouldn't put it past Bruce to do the same to you guys the moment you reach the ripe age of 18 and get on his nerves."

 

"What the hell is wrong with you! 'The ripe age of 18'? Do you even hear yourself?" Tim yells, he's starting to get really frustrated at all this investigation on their father. And he especially thinks that Jason is taking it a bit too far. "Don't you think you're overthinking it a bit? Fine, granted maybe Bruce _did_ hit him that night, but that doesn't just make him the monster you're describing him as! Maybe Dick really just overdid it and pissed him off-"

 

Jason grabs Tim by the shoulders and fixes him with a hard stare. "Dick was turning 18 when Bruce took me in."

 

"So. What? Are you say-"

 

"What I'm saying is, this wasn't a one time thing, Timmy." Jason explains. "Im sure you've seen them fight before, but i can assure you their fights reached their peak when i was living here."

 

Tim pretends to ignore that, he's starting to feel sick. Dealing with Jason was often a major exercise of trust for Tim, and hearing the guy constantly warn him about his own guardian with the possibility of actually being right did not sit well with him. "Why did you bring Nightwing's mask here, Jason."

 

Jason stares back at the teen silently, as if he expected the younger to understand simply from it. He turns towards the bat computer and motions Tim towards it.

 

"Wh-"

 

"Footage. From that night."

 

Tim snaps his head around to look at Jason. _Mask footage, of course. Why didn't he think of it sooner?_

 

_Probably because he really did not want to believe any of this._

 

"Does Dick know?" Tim asks, turning the mask over in his hands.

 

"Well i didn't ask his permission before taking the mask, but he probably noticed it was gone." Jason admits, shrugging. He walks over to the Bat-computer. This was it, he was gonna see what happened for himself. Jason doesn't really know what he's gonna do afterwards, but he deserves to know. And so does Tim.

 

Tim huffs, taking a seat at the large chair and connecting the mask to the computer. Tim never really had an issue with peoples privacy, he was like Bruce when he tampered around with evidence and hacked into peoples footage. But this? This felt wrong. Probably because at this point he was scared of being forced to take in whatever Jason was telling him about Bruce.

 

"So what? We're gonna watch this. It'll turn out that you were right, and i was wrong. Then what? We'll yell at Bruce for being a shitty father, and remind him that Dick is also his kid, and he shouldn't have hit him. That your plan?"

 

"No," Jason replies immediately, moving his hand around the keypad to access the video files on the mask. "Didn't you hear what i just said? This wasn't a one time thing, dude. Bruce has done this before, and I'm not sayin' once or twice. Im thinking many times."

 

"What evidence do you have for that?" Tim says, annoyed.

 

Jason pulls up the file and stops to look at him. "Do you really think, someone could get a hit like that on Dick without consequences? Dick would _rage_ if it were anyone else. This has to have been something he's accustomed to. I'd know." Yeah, he would. Before everything, before he was left alone on the streets after his mom died, most times his own dad would come home drunk, and if Jason were to be in his sight it was over for him. It was all he knew so he'd never tried to complain to anyone, just took it silently. Because it was his dad and he had grown up into it. But if anyone else, on the streets or at school, tried to get a hit on him, he fought back. Thats why Jason immediately noticed something was wrong when he'd seen his older brother displaying similar symptoms.

 

Tim huffs through his nose. Jason was kind of right. Dick Grayson was not a force to mess with. If his eldest brother was really hiding what had happened, and shrugging it off like it was nothing, it must be something that he's grown accustomed to. That means whatever Jason is saying-

 

Tim doesn't have time to continue the thought before Jason plays the video. The two fall into silence as the screen starts playing shaky footage of Nightwing swinging through some cranes before landing directly onto a container. A few thugs point guns and him before the view shows Deathstroke stood beside a larger container.

 

"Thats the chemical." Jason comments. Tim hums, pausing the video to zoom into the container. 

 

"What did Nightwing think he was gonna do?"

 

"Dude," Jason says irritably. "What do we usually do when there's an illegal weapons deal? Take out the goons, delay it at least. I seriously doubt he even knew what was in the container, i mean, we all missed it."

 

Tim frowns, zooming out and playing the video. The perspective moves closer to Slade, which means Nightwing was standing in front of him now. They've started to banter, Dick falling into his usual theatrics and the perspective moves a lot. The thing about watching Nightwing's mask footage was that there was always constant movement.

 

"Is it just me or has Deathstroke always been a complete creep around Nightwing?" Jason frowns this time round. "The guy barely gives anyone time for conversation but he always ends up having a whole ass conversation with Dick."

Tim doesn't say anything, they both watch the conversation play out closely. 

 

"Lets just skip to when Batman arrives." Jason says, starting to show irritation as he moves to fast forward the footage.

 

"Wait. Listen," Tim stops him. "Slade just told him whats in the container."

 

"Dick's right, i mean he could've literally just gotten rid of it in the water."

 

"I don't think it's that simple, dude." Tim replies. The teen swallows down a lump in his throat as he positions himself more comfortably on the big chair, watching the scene unfold on the screen above.

 

 

_“Kid,” Slade says, whatever amused tone he'd had was long forgotten. “Go. Home. You don't know what you're walking in on.”_

 

_"Like hell i don't," Nightwing leaps, and shoots a line that attaches to the crate._

 

_Slade swiftly cuts his line, grabbing Nightwing before he reached the crate. Dick twists in his grip and flips backwards, but then immediately bounces back towards Slade, this time actually using his escrimas to attack._

 

_The two clash, Slade blocks his sticks with his sword and for a moment they're at a standstill, just pushing at each others weapons before-_

 

_"Nightwing."_

 

 

"Batman." The two brothers comment in unison. The perspective moves from Slade to the direction of the voice. And there is stood Batman, with the entire fucking Justice League behind him.

 

"I'd freak out." Tim says, crossing his arms. "Like give a guy a little warning before you bring the entire League to interrupt your patrol." 

 

Jason only growls in response. Nightwing probably did freak out, but he makes a good effort not to show it. The footage is still shaky, Nightwing is looking back and forth between Slade and the League.

 

 

_"Whats going on, B?" Dick asks,_

_"You tell me." The Bat replies in an accusatory tone._

 

"Interesting." Tim mutters. "He's shifting suspicion towards Dick."

 

"Fuck," Jason says. "That fucking-"

 

 

_"You are not required here anymore. Go join Robin and Batgirl on patrol-"_

 

"Thats like, a demotion, man." Jason comments. "Thats like telling him to leave cuz the adults are talking. I'd have already stabbed Bruce at this point."

 

"Shh," Tim stops him. "Listen."

_"What the hell? I was here first, why would i just leave, Batman?" Nightwing's voice was starting to raise. "Why is the League here?" The perspective moves to look behind Bruce again, and the League is starting to look a little uncomfortable at being present for this father son conflict._

__

_"We will talk about this later." Batman says lowly._

__

_"No." Nightwing stares at the Bat head on, but because of his shorter height the perspective shows Batman to be looming above him. "Not until you tell me what the hell is going on,"_

 

"I've gotta say," Jason runs a hand through his hair. "Dick's doing a pretty good job of not blowing the fuck up."

 

"Watch Bruce's expression." Tim tells him. Dick might not be saying much but he definitely seems to be infuriating Bruce.

 

 

_“You willingly made a contract with Deathstroke? For explosives? Im sorry, excuse my gosh darn language but what the actual-“_

_“Nightwing!” Batman shouts, and then consciously pauses to lower his voice. “Your work here is done, I expect you to see yourself out. We will discuss this later.”_

_“Its not done, Batman! Stop telling me this isn’t my business. You guys are about to buy chemicals that are nuclear bomb levels of dangerous, from Deathstroke! It’s my fucking business!”_

 

Jason whistles. Something about the Golden Boy swearing was appealing to him.

 

_“Son,” Supes interjects calmly. “These are dangerous chemicals, the League is making it their business to safekeep these explosives—“_

_“What? So you can use them against anyone who comes against you when needed?” Dick responds without missing a beat. “Because even if that wasn’t your intention, it was definitely his.” He says, pointing to Batman. “Just another form of contingency plan.”_

 

"Yeah." Tim says, pausing the video and looking at his brother stood to his side. "This part i knew about. Bruce had been tracking down this chemical for long while before he left with the League. I just didn't think he'd be _buying_ it from Deathstroke."

The older of the two continues to glare at the screen. "Fucking hypocrite." 

Tim hits play again.

_“Nightwing,” Wonder Woman steps up, attempting to clear the air. “There will be no such use of these chemicals. They will be locked away in safekeeping forever,”_

_“Really?” Nightwing replies defiantly. “Then why not just destroy it? Why keep it if you’re not gonna use it?”_

 

"Damn fucking straight." Jason almost slams a fist onto the keyboard. Tim has to agree.

_“Kid—“_

_“What? You’re here, at the docks! Why not just destroy it in the water? Why the hell are you paying the bad guys for it?”_

_Silence._

_“Am i really the only one who sees something wrong with this whole situation?”_

 

_“Call this off.” Nightwing says._

_Bruce doesn’t move or change his expression but his breathing hitches ever so slightly in surprise at the command._

_“I said, call this off, Batman.”_

_“Are you in your right mind, boy?” Batman seethes very lowly, so only Dick can hear, or well, also Slade with enhanced hearing, and the various other League members with super hearing. This wasn’t a very dignifying situation for Dick. “Behave yourself.” He says, as if Nightwing is some child throwing a tantrum and not making a common sensical point._

 

"Don't fucking talk to him like that. What the fuck." Jason growls.

_“Don’t talk to me like that!” Nightwing responds. “I seriously can’t believe you, all of you right now.”_

 

_“Nightwing,” Batman growls. “Stand. Down.”_

 

"I can't watch this." Tim says, but he doesn't move to pause the video, just continues to stare at it in dread. Jason doesn’t reply. He doesn't want to. And he doesn’t know what to say either.

 

_“You better watch what you say next,” Bruce warns, and the perspective shows him stepping closer._

_“Or, what?” Dick steps forward challengingly. “What could possibly be worse, than the absolute dumbassery that’s taking place right here? And the fact that none of you seem to understand?”_

 

The two can only imagine Bruce's clenched fist, which is something he does when he's angry. But since this is from Nightwing's point of view, the perspective only shows his looming face.

_“Or,” Dick says accusingly, “You all are aware of what I’m saying. You just choose to remain oblivious to seem innocent of what you’re about to do.”_

 

The resounding crack can be heard across the cave. The two gasp loudly, Tim's chair rolls backwards on its wheels. 

 

The screen is dark now, Nightwing's eyes are closed, his heavy and panicked breathing can be heard across the speakers.

 

 Neither of them actually knew when to expect it. You see, even when the two boys already knew what they were going to be witnessing, the reality of watching it is what changes everything. It's like when you watch a horror film already expecting jump-scares and yet you still jump at the jump-scares.

 

The screen shows Nightwing to be slowly cracking his eyes open and blinking, and for a faint moment Batman's still form is visible, just stood like a statue in front of him.

The perspective is still. Dick isn't moving, he's frozen on the spot.

 

"Replay it." Jason demands through gritted teeth. Tim doesn't move, his hands are over his face, eyes peeking through. "I said fucking replay it!" The older slams his fists on the keyboard. The video screen closes from the many key commands pressed. Jason lets out a frustrated yell.

 

Tim stands up wordlessly, quickly walking towards the other end of the cave, his arms crossed and hands holding his forearms. He doesn't know how to process what he just saw. In theory, it didn't sound too bad. But after witnessing it-

 

_The sound of the hit is still ringing in his ears._

 

Jason is fuming, his owns hands are clenching and unclenching as he paces the cave. His own breathing his quick and heavy, he's almost panting. He's seen worse. he's seen so much worse. But this-

 

This was personal.

 

-

 

The two are back upstairs, seated on opposite sides of a sofa drinking tea that Alfred had set out for them when they came back up.

 

Well more like Jason was sat staring at his cup and Tim had completely lost his appetite. Jason feels bad for roping the teen into this. But he had to warn him and he doesn't really know how else he would've believed him of not by showing him evidence.

 

"Sorry for freaking out on you." Jason says finally. Tim shrugs. 

 

"It's fine."

 

"Are you okay?"

 

"Nope." Tim says bluntly. "Far from. But I'm guessing Dick must be worse."

 

"He's in denial, man."

 

"Go to him." 

 

Jason puts his cup down, staring at the teen. "What?"

 

Tim sighs. It's a long sigh."Bruce isn't back yet, and I'm not entirely satisfied with what i just saw. Im gonna dig into this whole thing more. You go to Bludhaven...Someone needs to watch over Dick, and i can't leave Gotham while Batman is away."

 

Jason sighs as well, running a hand over his face. He just knows Tim is gonna sit watching the footage over and over to make sure he hadn't missed anything. Pure torture. 

 

But he was also right. Someone had to go see Dick. Jason didn't leave him on good terms, and he felt partly responsible for triggering his mental state.

 

"Alright. You win." He stands up, not really making eye contact with the teen. "Keep me posted on...anything you find." He takes one last look at the well furnished room of the manor and starts walking towards the door.

 

Tim nods, and gets up to walk him out. "Alfred's gonna wonder why we left all this tea."

 

Jason stops walking. He remains facing forward. “Why didn’t you tell him?”

“I—What?”

"Why didn't you tell Alfred?" Jason says, in an almost lower tone, as if he already knew why.

Tim huffs out a breath, shrugging slowly. "Same reason you didn't. I guess."

Jason bites his lip and nods. The old butler had had a lot on his plate already. None of this was his fault, Bruce did a lot of things unbeknownst to him, and Alfred already knew that. Alfred generally tried to intervene in thier fights at home, so telling him what was going on right now would do nothing but make him feel responsible for what had happened. And besides, first Jason had to figure out how to go about this in the best way possible. Without giving Bruce the time and leverage to be able to cover up his actions.

Tim grabs the door to see Jason out, shifting and not meeting his eyes. Jason steps out, doing pretty much the same.

Who knew that if Dick was upset it could affect them so heavily.

"I'm-" Jason starts, putting his hands in his pockets. "Im gonna send the footage to Babs."

Tim finally looks up to meet his eyes, and finds it's an expression that mirrors Jasons own. They're both panicked.

 

Jason continues. “I don’t know who else to tell- I mean she’s known Dick the longest apart from Bruce or Alfred. She has to know something-”

"I'll go talk to her." Tim says firmly. One would think he was perfectly calm if they hadn't seen his face. 

 

"Thanks." Jason nods. 

 

"Drake! Who are you conversing with?" They hear a voice from inside. Jason takes that as his cue to leave.

 

Tim spares Jason one last look before waving sadly and retreating indoors. Jason climbs onto his bike.

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

Dick jerks awake at the sound of boots shuffling against the ground and a loud object dropping next to where he lay and clattering against the ground. Out of reflex his limbs to flail and hit whatever intruding party had just come near him.

"Ow-Fuck, calm down! It's just me!"

Squinting around him, he takes a few deep breaths and tries to focus, to get his bearings. Whoever his intruder was attempts to grab at his flailing limbs.

 

Dick scampers backwards from the offending hands. His shoulders are angled upwards, hands in front of him defensively giving him this entire look of skittish, trembly, about to flee any second—

"Dickiebird, it's just me. I dropped my phone, that’s all.” The voice says again, it's loud, but grounding- like Bruce. No, not like Bruce. Bruce's voice is grounding-but stone like. And cold. So so cold--This voice is warmer, less monotone. There is emotion behind it. Emotions. Dick can translate through emotions.He can feel a pair of hands on his forearms attempting to steady him. Dick tries to breathe. "It's Jason. You need to breathe, man."

It takes a few seconds, but the older of the two finally lets himself relax under Jason's grip. He focuses on his breathing and taking in his surroundings. He was in the nearest bat safe-house he could get to. He’d stumbled in bleeding a few hours ago and tried his best to patch himself up.

 

The fight with Slade had left him with multiple cuts along his arms and torso, but because of his little rooftop trick he had managed to escape successfully without the Slade following him, you know, because the merc thought he didn’t have the usb anymore.

 

Yes, he had dropped a usb off the rooftop.

 

No, he did not drop **_the_** usb off the rooftop. He still had it in his suits glove compartment. Nightwing was a box full of grade school magic tricks. No one really expected them, which made it so much easier for him to pull them off successfully.

 

 

Dick shuts his eyes and reopens them slowly, meeting Jasons directly. He can breathe again. Jason stares back, unmoving. For the first time in a long time the two of them were quiet in the same room, and staring each other down, but not through masks this time. Dick had almost forgotten what his brother actually looked like up close, and not through a mask or a helmet.

 

Damn, he needed to spend time with his family more.

"You kicked me in the arm." Jason says. "Asshole."

Dick blinks, bewildered at the sudden accusation. Leave it to Jason to hold a grudge at any moment.

Two can play at that game.

"You left me." The older responds, glaring back. His sides were really starting to ache at his sudden movements. "You absolute fucking asswipe."

Jason's brows shoot up as he releases Dick. "Wow, colourful." He whistles. "Who've you been hanging around, Goldie?"

Dick shrugs, suddenly feeling extremely anxious. He gets up slowly, minding his injuries, and starts walking out of the room, grabbing a pair of crumpled jeans that lay on the chair since the last time he was here and shrugging them on as he made his way to the kitchen of the safe-house. Jason follows.

“Hm. You.” He says. And thinks for a second. "Slade Wilson. Maybe."

"You've been meeting up with Deathstroke?"

"Totally unplanned." Dick comments, reaching for a glass and filling it up with water. "Don't know why I'm sharing this with you though. Clearly you like coming to see me in Bludhaven just to shit on how stupid my life is and then leave without telling me. Besides, how’d you even know i was here?”

Jason just stares at him, dumbfounded. Dick meets his eyes through a glare as he's downing his glass of water. He goes back to the sink to fill up another.

 

“I uh- assumed. You weren’t in your apartment so i figured you’d crash here.”

Dick closes the sink, and turns to him. “Huh. Nice to know i’m that predictable. By the way, here's your glass of water that you asked for last time and forgot." Dick walks up to him and splashes the water on Jason's face. "Give me my mask back, thief.”

 

Jason splutters, gasping. What the fuck?

Okay, so he's mad.

"You-" Jason spits, wiping his face with his sleeve. "'Thief'? Really?"

Dick just gives him a look that dares him to argue.

"Okay, justified." The younger admits, shaking his wet hair like a cat to get rid of the water. Dick squints at the offending flying water droplets. "But i didn't bring your mask back here. Sorry man.”

 

“What did you do with it?” Dick looks up at his brother, his mouth is formed into a thin line, but you can hear the dread in his tone.

 

Jason looks down to meet his brothers eyes, fixing him with a wide eyed stare before letting out a huff of air.

 

“I needed it for evidence.”

 

Dick frowns, uncrossing his arms and leaning against the kitchen island. “Evidence for what, Jay?”

 

Jason sighs. There was really no point in sugarcoating it. This was serious and he had to somehow get that through to his brother who was clearly not seeing the problem.

 

“I used it to watch the footage from your last patrol in Gotham.” He replies honestly, taking in the look of shock on Dick’s face. “I took it back to the cave and watched it with Tim.“

 

Jason pauses to read the shifting expression on his brothers face.

 

“-And i also sent it to Babs. We all know what really happened, now.”

 

Dick breaks eye contact, instead looking to glare at the floor. He feels like he can’t breathe again.

 

Jason goes to defend his actions, he tries for a gentle approach. “Dickie…that night when i found you, you said you had fucked up. You were hurt, man. You told me that that poor excuse of a man you call your father fucking hurt you, do you even know how that sounds?”

 

Dick can feel himself flinch at that. This was not happening. His relationship with his father…it was fine. It was. He didn’t need anyone else to snoop in. Because then it would not seem fine. It was the way things were and he was used to it. Deep down, his mind told him that this isn’t something he should have been tolerating as a kid. But deep down he also knew Bruce cared for him. For Dick, Bruce treated him that way because it was the only way he knew how. He knew for an outsider it would look abusive, that’s why he didn’t need them to know. Nothing in Dick’s life really was normal anyways, so it was fine. He was fine.But it really wasn’t, was it? he wasn’t. He wasn’t he wasn’t he wasn’t- Oh, he was spacing out and Jason was talking to him.

 

“-and you wouldn’t let me help, you never let me do anything, Dickie. So i wanted to know, okay? I don’t give a damn about Bruce, i just wanna help you, okay? Can’t you understand that i just want to help but you keep pushing me away-”

 

 

“Fuck. Don’t make that face, Dickiebird. C’mon.” Jason tries, stepping closer to his brother. “Don't you trust me?”

 

 

Dick is still at first, and then he isn’t. Jason barely has time to register before Dick shoves him away and storms off into the bedroom, door slamming behind him.

 

“Good job Jason. Why the fuck would he trust you, after everything that you did." He huffs, running a hand through his wet hair. "Great fucking job, scare him away why don’t you. Tell him you watched footage of him getting publicly humiliated, oh and tell him that you watched it with Tim. And then tell him that you sent the footage to his ex, why don’t you. Thats gonna work out great, real fucking great.”

 

-

 

 

"Master Timothy, i do request you to return to bed. Just because Master Bruce is not home does not mean all of his responsibilities of Gotham must fall upon you." Alfred's scolding voice can be heard across the cave. Tim sighs, sleepily running a hand over his face.

 

He was sat over at the bat computer, having spent the evening after Jason left rewatching the footage for every detail. It was early morning now, and he feels like he might actually be physically sick if he didn't go to bed this instant.

But it was necessary that he's seen it again. He was a detective after all, he wasn't gonna act on something he wasn't at least 90 percent sure about. After watching it until he was somewhat satisfied, he erased the footage from the computer. He didn't need the demon spawn coming across it. While Damian deserved to know, showing him such footage could cause the kid to react and probably do something stupid. Thats not something they need right now.

 

"Im going, Alfred. You can stop worrying about me." Tim says lightheartedly, making a show of his hands as he trudges away from the computer and towards the stairs.

 

"You must be quite mistaken if you would assume i would ever stop worrying about you, Master Tim. You concern yourself too much about others, the same must be done for you. Off to bed."

 

That was something the butler was right about that Tim couldn't deny. One of the main reasons Tim was here, in his home, in this cave in the first place was because he concerned himself too much with Batman's life. Part of his first years as robin he was focused on trying to get Dick to come back to Gotham, or to get Bruce to talk to him. He believed Batman worked better that way. 

 

Dick was known to be the glue of the family. And in ways that was right. But sometimes the guy needed a peacemaker between himself and the Bat. And Tim had taken that job onto himself a long while ago.

 

The father and son fought a lot. But it just took a little time before they would be working together again. Usually a little push from either himself or Alfred.

 

However...this seemed like a case where Bruce had gone overboard. Like, way overboard. Tim shudders inwardly as he makes his way to his room.

 

So Jason had claimed to have seen signs of this "abuse" before. 

 

Tim actually feels obliged to believe him, after watching the video. He can imagine many scenarios in his head where it may have happened before. Tim was seething. He was starting to hate the man.

 

Apply reason. Think about it with a clearer head. Something Tim knew from experience from working with the Bat is that many things he did can look completely outrageous unless looked into properly. Which is why he'd replayed the clip until his mind was numb and all he can do now is try to see it from Bruce's perspective.

 

Okay, so Bruce got a little too harsh on Dick as he got older. I mean, it wasn't like he was just randomly hitting his kid, Dick was an adult, and they had many disagreements. Tim just needed to explain to Bruce that he cant just exercise violence whenever things weren't going his way, right? The guy just needed a reality check before it descended into something worse, he was sure.

 

The two never knew how to resolve their fights, and usually put a lot of distance between each other to cool off. What Tim needed to do was to get them to communicate. It's what he always did to get Nightwing and Batman on better terms with each other.

 

"Drake, why are you moping like an idiot in the hallway?" _Ah, Damian. He, who just like his father, likes to exercise violence whenever things aren't going his way,_ Tim thought.

 

"Why do you care?" Tim responds in a bratty tone. Hey, he was getting kind of cranky, okay? "Im going to bed."

 

"Wait," Damian says before he could open the door to his room. "I was on the phone with father."

 

Tim stops. Looks at him. "...and?"

 

"He said he will be returning tomorrow evening. We will patrol with him when he returns." 

 

"Oh." _Oh.._

 

"And i-" the kid looks away to stare at his shoes. "I did not mention any of the accusations that Todd had made against him. I believe Grayson would not like such rumours to be spread without his own opinion on them. I also suggest that you do not inform Todd of fathers return so soon" Damian admits.

 

Tim blinks. He had forgot about Jason wanting to have a good "chat" with Bruce.

 

Well, they didn't really need that right now.

 

"Yeah, i'm not gonna tell Jason he's coming back yet, i'm thinking Dick should meet Bruce before any of the...well...whatever happened is talked about."

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

"Dick, i'm sorry okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?" 

 

No response. Jason closes his eyes, letting his forehead press against the bedroom door where Dick had slammed shut earlier. His brother was probably already feeling humiliated after what Bruce had done to him, the last thing he needed was to know that Jason was going around telling everybody about it. Technically, that wasn't really what Jason was doing. He was just trying to evaluate what had actually happened, and had also taken the responsibility of warning Tim and asking an opinion from Babs while he was at it, right?

 

_Maybe i shouldn't have told anyone. The problem here is Bruce, i should've gone straight to him and clocked him in the face instead of involving everybody else._

 

Jason lifts his head from the door and runs a hand through his now dry hair. He sighs.

 

_No._

__This wasn't a one time thing._ _

_Bruce has done this to Dick_ **before** _and that means it involves the rest of the family._ Jason reminds himself. That part of it, was the one he was having trouble making a case for. There wasn't any concrete evidence for it like the footage at the docks. The previous abuse done to Dick was something that only existed in the symptoms that his older brother was showing and Jasons vague memory of Dick being occasionally bruised and roughed up after having a fight with Bruce.

So then, even if he _did_ manage to make a case for Dicks previous abuse. Who would listen? The League certainly didn't even blink a fucking eye. He remembers watching the footage, and how Tim had said that Bruce was twisting an accusatory tone onto Dick, to make him seem like a misbehaving sidekick instead of the actual independent minded vigilante that he was. Fucking sick. He wishes he'd seen it sooner. Like, way back when it had started.

But he knows he couldn't have done anything about it as a kid himself. Besides, it wasn't like he could go off and call child services or something back then either. Dick was an adult back then too.

So why was Jason so concerned about it anyways? Sure it sounded bad, and definitely did not make what happened okay. But if it wasn't a case for child abuse then...

There was just something about the way his brother was acting that had his mind screaming at him that something was WRONG.

 

Without any evidence of the previous abuse, it only looked like Batman had taken some disciplinary action towards Nightwing at the docks. That's all.

But Jason just knew that it was way more than that. He felt like it was in plain sight, and he supposes it was because of his position as an outsider to the family. It was easier to see through everyones bullshit that way. He was seriously hoping Tim would come around to realise that too. But it was unlikely. The kid was insanely smart, but that often meant he delayed realising the emotional aspects to situations when he constantly exercised reason and logic. Not mention, loyalty to Batman is something that was ingrained into all of them at a young age. If even Dick won't admit what had happened to himself, how were others meant to believe it?

 

 _Thats fucking weird_. Jason clenches his fists. Why didn't his dumb older brother understand? They were vigilantes who dealt with cases like this on a regular basis, they were hyperaware of these kinds of situations. Not to mention, as far as Jason knew Dick had had a good childhood before his parents had died, not like the one he'd had himself with his own abusive dad, right? So why didn't Dick realitate the very first time Bruce had laid a hand on him, which was, Jason was assuming, around the time Jason started living in the Manor?

Or did it only take a victim of abuse to recognise abuse, like Jason did? That can't be right.

 

There was so much stuff that just wasn't adding up. Jason decided he needed to know more.

 

"Nothings making any sense with you, Goldie. Either you're a real dumbass or- oh." Jasons phone starts to ring. He shuffles his hands around his pockets and pulls it out.

 

It was Barbara.

 

Jason turns to look back at the closed room door. Nope. He wasn't about to leave Dick without telling him again. His brother was an emotional wreck.

 

"Dickiebird." Jason knocks lightly. No response. He sighs, his phone continues to ring.

 

"I'm stepping outside for a bit to take this call. I am not leaving, okay?"

 

-

 

 

"Jason?" Barbaras voice sounds pressed, as if she's being forced to address a situation she really doesn't want to address. "Can we talk?"

 

Jason closes the door of the safe-house and locks it behind him, speed walking a good few feet before responding.

 

"Hey Barb. Yeah sorry i was just-" He cuts himself off. "Nevermind. What did you wanna say?"

 

She sighs audibly through the phone speakers. "I saw the mask footage you guys sent."

 

Jason makes a humming sound, biting his lip. This is where he was gonna get a second opinion on the situation. Because quite honestly he had no idea what he was doing, and definitely no idea how to deal with his brother in a way that could help him.

 

"Tim had asked me about it before... and I had already suspected the deleted footage had to do with the League and the chemical. But we didn't really think to confront Bruce about it just yet."

 

Jason clicks his tongue. Somewhat like Damian does. 

 

"Fuck that. I was hoping you could shed some light on whatever fucking bullshit Bruce has been smoking." 

 

He hears a sharp inhale on the other line. He doesn't really know where the sudden rage just came from, and feels kind of bad for snapping at her.

 

Barbara sounds like she's analysing the footage again right now, because Jason can hear computer clicks in the background.

 

She exhales though the speakers. "What can i even say about this. I don't even know where to start-" She stops. Breathing in and out again. In ways she was like Tim, where she controlled her emotions to think rationally. She had to remain clear headed as Oracle. "As completely ridiculous as it is, and however angry you are about it, Jay, all i can tell you is in the end it's not as big of a deal as it looks. So just keep that in mind." 

 

Babs didn't want to belittle the situation. She was definitely furious about it. But she also needed to make sure they didn't have any explosive or unwarranted reactions to something that in the grand scheme of things wasn't a great big deal.

 

Jason stops in his tracks, ducking out of the way of the sidewalk he was walking down and into an alleyway.

 

"What the fuck, Babs? How the hell are you telling me it's not a big deal? Bruce _hit_ Dick, for no fucking reason! And he did it in front of an entire audience! You just saw that!"

 

"Jason." Barbara says warningly.

 

"No, please fucking tell me why i shouldn't be freaking the fuck out right now, Babs."

 

"Because," She says, tone steady. "While you deserve to be angry at Bruce-heck, we all do- there's nothing here that you can really hold him accountable for. Other than him being a shit father and a complete asshole to Dick. Which, by the way, how is Dick?"

 

Jason makes a frustrated noise. He should've expected this would happen. 

 

In retrospect he doesn't blame Babs, because she doesn't have the insight, the memories Jason has on this situation as evidence. But he was hoping she did. Then again, if she did have any it would've been dealt with way long ago. Thats just how Babs was.

 

She only had the mask footage. Thats all they were running on. And the mask footage depicted Bruce just being an asshole, not an abuser.

 

"He's fucking great." Jason growls into the phone before throwing it onto the ground. He'd had enough. Batman always got away with things, and Jason wasnt about to let him get away with another just because there was no concrete evidence to prove it. He was gonna get information out of his brother.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! i just wanted to say i loved reading your comments and what you had to say about the story so far. Looks like things are escalating!! Looks like Jason determined to do something. ill try to update faster :)


	13. Chapter 13

Jason returns to the safe-house in a completely different mood as to when he left. He almost slams the door shut so hard it nearly comes off his hinges, and he has to pause to stop himself, remembering Dick was still in one of the rooms and wouldn't appreciate it. He himself had hated it when people made loud noises like that. It reminded him of his dad when he would come home angry. 

That doesn't do anything to calm Jasons mood though. He was fucking furious. And being kept in the dark like this while everyone else in their family just gave up on Dick like this, it was getting really personal for him. Jason was seething, hands gripping the edge of the kitchen island as he attempted to regulate his breathing.

 

Dick. He needed to get his brother to _talk_. He needed answers. 

 

Jason gets up again, this time way more determined, and knocks at the door more harshly this time. "Dick, I'm coming in. I don't care about your little bitchfit, okay."

 

He barely gave a few seconds before pushing the door wide open. His eyes travelled around the room until they fell on the bed, where there was definitely a lean acrobat sized lump under the covers. Jason huffs.

 

"I swear, this better not be a classic pillow trick, or i'm gonna kill you." He says as he goes to pull the covers off. Underneath he spotted a mop of dark hair, but his face wasn't visible. When he pulled the covers further he realised Dick was actually laying on his side with a laptop in front of him, and at a closer look he could see puffy wet eyes rapidly reading information on the screen. His brother squints up at him briefly before returning to stare at the screen.

 

"What are you doing?"

 

Dick sniffs a little. He looks like he's contemplating to ignore him, but he gives in after a few seconds. 

 

"Research."

 

Simple, one word answer. Definitely not what Jason was looking for.

 

His brother was gonna make this really hard for him.

 

"Why are you like this?" 

 

"What is this, twenty questions? Leave me alone." Dick mutters. He reaches down and pulls the covers back over himself. 

 

Jason pulls the covers back down, only for Dick to pull them back up. Soon the two brothers were practically snarling at each other and tugging at both ends of the sheets.

 

"I left you alone _last_ time-" Jason says through gritted teeth, pulling the sheet with all his might and throwing it across the room. He snaps his head back to look at his brother who was looking at the sheet in despair. "-and you threw water on my fucking face for it. Make up your mind."

 

Dick blinks, beginning to glare at him. _Good, angry Dick was better than a sad quiet one._ Jason thought. He had to prod at him more to get him to talk.

 

The older of the two seems to catch on, that or he was just feeling particularly insecure and caught off guard, because he simply ignores Jason as if nothing had just happened and pulls the laptop closer to him instead, curling around it to read the screen.

 

 _For fucks sake_. Jason groans inwardly.

 

"Dick, i need to talk to you. And you need to talk to me and stop ignoring everything that upsets you."

 

Jason can tell that hurt Dick even though he barely makes a movement of recognition, using his fingers to scroll down the screen of whatever he was reading. Something Dick often did was that he would crack jokes or change the topic when someone was touching a touchy subject for him. With Jason that never worked, because he knew he tended to aggravate his brother more, so Dick would switch tactics and pointedly ignore him instead, afraid of letting out too much anger. Because boy, Dick got **angry** when he got angry.

 

Anger. He needed that. Dick should be angry at what was done to him, not closed off and upset. Anger helped Jason work through his feelings faster, get over them faster and take action faster, instead of just sitting around and brooding. He scoffs. Batman repressing his feelings? Try Dick Grayson, constantly replacing them with a calculated smile out of all things.

 

"You know i could throw the laptop too. I don't care." Jason shrugs, pointing to the sheet that lay crumpled and kind of torn across the room from their little tug of war. "You can just buy a new one."

 

Dick blinks up at him, face scrunching in a weird expression. He motions to his torso that was littered with cuts. "Don't even try it. It took me 48 hours and a fight with Deathstroke to get this info."

Jason furrows his brows, uncrossing his arms where he stood. "You're _still_ looking into the..."

 

"Not anymore. I've almost got all the intel i need. I'm gonna interfere with two shipments happening this week, even." Dick explains to him as if it's the most important topic of discussion right now. Jason can feel the same residual rage building up again from people ignoring the actual problem at hand.

 

"Are you serious? Thats what you're busying yourself with?" Jason fumes. "You're the last person who should be dealing with this case. Anyone thats involved in it knows what happened to you, and they're gonna fucking use it against you. And you? You're in denial! You can't go in there like that-"

 

"I can handle my own damn self, Jay." Dick growls. "Stop making a big deal out of everything!"

 

"Fuck." Jason says. "You fucking idiot."

 

 _Forgive me for this, Dickie._ Jason thinks. He barely gives any warning before tackling his older brother, laptop sliding across the bed. Dick lets out a sound thats half in pain and half surprise. He yells, pushing at Jason to get off of him.

 

"Listen to me you dumbass." Jason commands harshly, roughly pinning Dick's wrists onto the bed. He was hovering over him face to face now. "Here's a little reality check for you. Something is fucking _wrong_ , Dickie-bird. You're **not** okay. You keep denying what Bruce did to you and i can't let you go out in that sort of mental state where you don't even realise what the fuck has been going on with you!"

 

Dick is looking straight up at him, glaring directly into Jason's eyes. Jason is kind of panicking himself inwardly, because what the fuck. Dick could easily twist and have Jason pinned beneath him in a millisecond. They've fought like this before. But he's been pinned hard, wrists being held against the mattress on each side of his face. Being suddenly thrown back onto the bed seems to have taken the wind out of him because of his injuries.

 

"I'm not." He grits out.

 

"What Dick? You're not what?" 

 

Dick's mouth is in a thin line. He inhales, and exhales through his nose. He's trying to keep calm. 

 

_Sorry, not happening._

 

"Im not denying anything."

Jason already knows that. Dick's the one who _told_ him it was Bruce. What he needs is for Dick to understand Bruce was **wrong** , and by that he was gonna have to make him admit it again.

He squeezes his brothers wrists that were still pinned under him, not to hurt him but enough to let him know he wasn't satisfied with that response.

 

"Jay-" Dick pleads, making his eyes wider to gain sympathy. "Stop it please."

 

Jason doesn't move, still looking at Dick expectantly.He knows he isn't physically hurting his brother at all, but Dick is starting to breathe a little faster in panic. It hurts Jason's heart. _I'm sorry. I don't mean to do this. I just need to get a reaction out of you._

 

"Say it." Jason demands. "What aren't you denying?"

 

"I'm not... denying what happened."

 

"Say it damn it! Why are you denying what Bruce did to you!"

 

"I'm not denying what-" Dick lets out a choked response. "Jay, get off me. Please. Stop."

 

"Not until i hear it, in your own words." Jason growls, and Dick and see the hints of green in his fierce blue eyes. "What did Bruce do to you?"

 

"H-he-"

 

"WHAT DID HE DO, DICK!" yelling.

 

"He HIT ME!" Dick shouts. He's absolutely red in the face, panting hard, but his body has actually seemed to have gone limp. Shame fills Dick's expression, he breaks contact with his brother and turns his head the other way. Jason releases him immediately, working through his own anger.

 

"Good. Now that we've established that," Jason grits out, crossing his arms and looking at his brother who still lay fuming on the bed. "You're going to tell me how long this has been going on for. And no bullshitting me this time."

 

 

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

"I know you fucking hate me, okay? But i don't care about that." Jason explains. He's sat at the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. Dick is sat on the other end against the headboard, with his arms around his knees and his chin resting on top of it. "Jus' needed you to stop acting like nothing happened. I needed you to realise it for yourself."

 

"Well are you satisfied?" Dick seethes in a low voice. His breathing is still quick. "What the fuck do you want from me?"

 

"Look....you can ignore me all you want after this Dickie. Hell i deserve it. But right now, I just want to know the truth." Jason felt bad. Dick had been trying to convince Jason everything was fine, but now he'd actually gotten him to crack the resolve he'd kept up. He hated having to interrogate his brother like that tough, but he knows that- well, he hopes- at least that the worst part is over. Dick has admitted it aloud, and the conversation can only go in very few directions from here. Jason was going to get to the bottom of this, because the rest of the family was certainly no use at this point.

 

He kind of wished there was someone else here to help Dick through things, though. Someone who knew Dick better, and was more gentle. Jason was just plain angry, he feels like he could go do a better job kicking the shit out of Bruce that he was over here. Jason kind of felt like he was on edge himself at this entire ordeal, its kind of triggering for himself to be even thinking about what his brother was going through.

 

"If you want to help me out so badly, Jason, you can join me when i bust this contract with the chemical shipments. You can help me with something that is actually important." Dick speaks lowly. He hasn't met Jasons eyes ever since he forced him to come to terms with what Bruce did. Dick honestly doesn't know what to make of it. "...and-i don't. I don't hate you."

 

He didn't. One misconception everybody seemed to have--including Jason-- that Dick absolutely hated was the possibility of his little brother ever being a danger to him. Dick had known him when he was a clumsy teenager a few inches shorter than himself. Nothing his brother could ever do would ever be something he couldn't handle. Dick was just having trouble coming to terms with his own reality, and secrets that he'd kept hidden inside that were coming into the light.

When others tried to peek in, he'd panic.

 

And Jason was doing an exceptionally good job at peeking into his secrets. So he was panicking.

 

"..you're my brother, Lil' wing. Just-" He exhales. He still won't look his brother in the eye. He thinks he might die of shame if he did. "I don't need you to try and fix my life, okay? I know what happened, and i've been trying to tell you that I'm fine but you keep insisting on making a thing out of it."

 

Jason sighs deeply, closing his eyes at the the pet name his brother had reserved for only him. No matter how much his family hurt him, or weren't there for him, Dick was always forgiving. They didn't deserve him. 

 

 _And Dick definitely doesn't deserve me as help._ Jason admits inwardly.

 

But at least he had gotten him to start talking. Aggravating his older brother usually caused him to open up, albeit aggressively.

 

_Maybe Jason knew Dick more than anybody else gave him credit for._

 

"Dickie-Bird, again, i mean this in the nicest way possible." He says, finally turning to look at his brother again. "You're a fucking dumbass. What the hell makes you think that you're not important, and this case is?"

 

-

 

 

Damian is sat on the floor of the Wayne Manor study room, sketchbook in his lap and pencil lightly marking the paper. Titus lay asleep beside him.

 

Damian has been doing this a lot lately. Either in his fathers study, or in his own room. But what the current occupants of the Manor did not know, or perhaps, Alfred knew but did not question, was that at night he would sneak into Grayson's old room. He doesn't know what brought on this kind of anxiety but not having spoken to his older brother ever since he had got up and left Gotham without a word had him closing in on himself again.

 

And then there was Todd and Drake. Damian figured they were up to something, he figures it's about the accusations that Todd had made against father. Damian couldn't stand it hearing his fathers, and Grayson's image be tarnished like that.

 

However, perhaps Grayson did disobey father. But Damian did not know his dad to be one to execute such disciplinary methods. Damian had seen and experienced his fair share of it back with the league, but after coming to Gotham he had realised (after Grayson himself had explained it to him) that such methods were wrong and he did not have to worry about them being used on him.

 

So if Grayson himself had explained this to him, then of course the man would not stand for such behaviour towards himself at all, correct? Grayson would not allow father to do that.

 

Todd must be deceiving them again. And Drake, the idiot, was actually listening to him.

 

But still, Damian can give him credit for being skeptical enough to agree to not tell Todd of fathers return. This was about Grayson and Grayson himself deserved to be the first to know about these rumours. 

 

Damian decided he was going to bring his brother home in time for their fathers return.

 

-

 

Dick abruptly gets up, minding his injuries. "Jay, i mean this in the nicest way possible. Leave me the fuck alone."

 

"No." Jason says, quickly walking in front of his brother who was heading towards the door. "Not until you get your priorities straight. Tell me how long Bruce has been abusing you."

 

_Straight to the point. Theres no way he can bullshit me now._

 

Dick inhales a sharp breath, looking the other way. He was feeling trapped and cornered again. He knew Jason couldn't do anything bad to him, but he was scared of his little brother knowing the truth. He doesn't know how he'd deal with any of his brothers knowing what kind of a person he was, and the kind of relationship he'd had with Batman.

 

"Thats a strong word, Jay." Dick says, but it's more of a huff of air.

 

"And you're gonna tell me whether it's the right one or not."

 

"It's not." Dick doesn't miss a beat.

 

"Really?" Jason raises a brow, he reaches out to lightly grasp the side of Dick's face where Bruce had left a mark. Dick shudders under the cold hands. "This isn't abuse?"

 

"I disobeyed him. He got angry-"

 

Jason looks at him incredulously, pulling his hand back. "That sounds like a load of bullshit to me."

 

"You just said you saw the footage, Jason!"

 

"Yeah. I did." Jason grits out, fists clenching. "You wanna know what i fucking saw?"

 

 

"I didn't just see a slap, Dick. Heck, even Tim, who didn't believe me at all could see more than that. Bruce couldn't bear to have his kid go against him. He wanted you, as always to stay his little Golden Boy. Always complying to what he says. And here you are-" Jason emphasises by tapping a finger to Dicks forehead. "Batman fucking mind manipulated you, he fucking humiliated you in front of these people so that you would think it's your fault, Dick. You think its discipline? I'm telling you it's abuse, Dick. And i **know** this wasn't the first time. You can't deny it, not to me."

 

Dick blinks slowly, his brain feels like its going into overdrive. And Jason was spiralling right into the centre of Dick's well kept up reserve. Jason grabs his shoulder, shaking him to get his full attention.

 

"No..How..." Dick breathes, still never meeting Jasons eyes. "How can you _know_ , Jay?"

 

"Because i was there."

 

Dick's eyes finally snap up in panic. "What?"

 

"I was there when you two fought again, and again and again. You think you hid those bruises well? You think the way you're acting right now, isn't the way victims of domestic abuse act? Come on Dick, we bust these kinds of cases on the daily, and you cant even do a little self introspection?"

 

"You..You don't know what you're talking about," Dick whispers, pushing Jason with little force. Jason doesn't stop him when he walks out of the room, away from his brother to be able to process everything. Jason just follows behind slowly.  

 

_I was there when you two fought again, and again and again. You think you hid those bruises well?_

 

 _Shit._ Dick thought. _Shit Shitshitshitshit-_

 

Things were bad when Dick was transitioning into Nightwing. He was facing Bruce's wrath and disapproval for leaving Gotham to be a cop in Bludhaven, so whenever he'd come back to the Manor there was increasing tension between the two. And then on top of all that there was Jason, that Bruce had recently taken in to make Dick feel even angrier and replaced.

 

The outcome of his fights with Bruce at the time were things he never wanted to relive. But he finds himself reliving them anyways.

They could be yelling at each other for hours. But one wrong word, one cut too deep from Dick and he'd find a hand around his neck, and he couldn't breathe until he apologised. Any misplaced attitude that would just push Bruce over the edge and he'd find a fist in his hair, pulling roughly until he wept and stood down.

It was worse when Jason- when he was gone. 

If he'd ever had the audacity to call Bruce out on his parenting towards Jason he'd be met with a fist to his face, and silence. Maybe two, or three. He thinks his arm was broken at one point, and it wasn't because of patrol. Dick told himself Bruce was just making him tough. Making him realise his actions had consequences.

 

Now Jason was back. And Dick was stupid. He shouldn't have told him.

 

Now Jason _knows_.

 

Dick wants to defend what happened. No one was meant to know, because it wasn't a big deal to him, not anymore. His relationship with Bruce has always been such, ever since he was eight years old. None of them had normal childhoods. He was sure Jason had experienced worse. So why should his be made a big deal out of? Was his brother trying to compare himself to Dick? What would happen if Dick admitted to what happened and Jason just found it to be not as big of a deal as he thought?

Would Dick be okay with that? He wished none of this had ever come out in the open in the first place. 

 

"Dickie-bird." Jason is behind him. But even though he was taller, he isn't looming, like Slade was. Or how Bruce did. Or how anyone from his life who realised they could have power over him did. Jason kept his distance, but it was a firm presence. "You have to breathe, man. This the second time you've been holding your breath today-"

 

"Go away." Dick chokes out before Jason could get any nearer. Jason stops in his tracks, giving him a calculated look.

 

"I already told you i'm not leaving until you tell me when this shit started without me having to guess it."

 

"Fine." Dick says, there are tears streaming down his face. Jason is the one holding his breath now. 

 

" _I'll_ go away." Dick makes a move for the window, pulling it open and leaps out. Jason curses loudly before jumping out after him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

Jasons speculations were right.

 

Whatever it was, it was bad. It had to be bad, because his brother never acted this hurt by anything. He was the champion of lying to peoples faces about his own feelings.

 

But the evidence Jason had, it was still mere speculation, just with a tiny bit of confirmation from his brothers reactions a few minutes ago. I mean, Dick was on the receiving end of a lot of Bruce's rage, from at least the time Jason was around the Manor, he had figured out that much. But he still wasn't sure what the magnitude of abuse was. Was it like his own dad, who would come home drunk some days and on those days he had to steer out of his way to avoid flying household objects being thrown at him? Was it hateful like that?

 

Abuse was abuse. But the question still stood-- was Dick using 'disciplinary methods' as an excuse to cover up what it really was? Or did he actually, _genuinely_ think he deserved to be beat up whenever he disappointed Bruce?

 

 _This is messed up._ Jason thinks. I mean at least he knew he didn't deserve what his own dad used to do to him as a kid. At least he knew it was abuse. And that it was wrong, and had to stay away from it.

 

Dick was having trouble even _coming to terms_ with it being real. It was his _normal_.

 

Jason lands on the low rooftop below the window his brother escaped from, he scrambles to his feet, quickly giving into the chase. Dick had already flipped onto the next roof. _Shit_ , Dick was the fastest in family, him being an acrobat and all. If Jason wanted to continue this conversation, he was really gonna have to run.

 

 _Or cheat._ His acrobat brother was still recovering from injuries in his spare clothes he kept at the safehouse. Jason however was packed with the perfect gear suited for this situation under his trusty leather jacket. Good thing he was still legally dead, because Jason Todd was about to freakin' zipline in broad daylight.

 

"You are _not_ running away from this conversation!" Jason yells as he sailed through the air, which was a fair warning for his brother to duck out of the way when he landed. Jason doesn't spare a second, rolling on the rooftop and coming to a standing halt in front of Dick. He's determined as hell to make things right.

Dick flails backwards, if Jason was really determined, Dick was just that much panicked. He stumbles a few steps backwards, body bending backwards as he almost trips over the side of the roof.

 

Almost, if his brothers hand hadn't quickly grabbed his forearm in a firm grip. _What the fuck. Dick Grayson never falls without intention._

 

"Dick," Jason breathes out, chest heaving from all the chasing. "I've got you."

 

Dick's breathing is the same, if not faster. His eyes are wide, and he's also trying to get over the initial shock of almost falling off the roof. Jason pulls him back upright, and Dick momentarily falls forward and face plants into his brothers chest. Jason would laugh if it wasn't for the situation they were in.

 

Dick pulls himself back upright, but he doesn't say anything. He's looking more annoyed now as he pushes past Jason and starts walking towards the other end of the roof where he can easily jump down onto the street without people noticing. Jason rolls his eyes and sprints after him again.

 

He grabs his wrist the moment they've landed in the alleyway next to the building they were on previously. "Thats enough. You have to talk to me now."

 

Dick scoffs, again not meeting his eyes. He's facing the other way, his arm stretched out behind him where Jason has grabbed his wrist.

 

"What're you gonna do about it, Jason?"

 

Jason's brows furrow upward. "Wh-"

 

Dick turns his head only, but his blue eyes are barely visible under his bangs. "Whatever you've been trying to figure out about me. Even if i do tell you what you want to know, what are you gonna do? Huh?" He roughly pulls his wrist back. "What? You gonna kill Bruce?" It sounds mocking. What the shit.

 

Jason is the one reeling now. That, was uncalled for. He sucks in a breath, mouth forming a thin line and he breathes out through his nose. 

 

 _Dick is trying to be an asshole, so that i get can mad and leave him. So that he could get out of this situation._ Jason tells himself.

 

"If the crime fits." Jason says flippantly, glaring at his brother who was still faced the other way. Did he really have to be so cryptic? Shit. Calm down.

 

Clearly that was the wrong thing say, because Dick seems to stiffen. Jason tries again.

 

"I don't give a fuck about Bruce, DickieBird. I-" Jason steps closer. "I just-" He breathes, putting a hand on Dick's shoulder. "I care about _you_."

 

Sure, initially Jason's determination was from wanting to kick the shit out of their adoptive father. But he realises that motivation was actually for how hurt his brother was. His sense of justice arose from watching a victim suffering in ways he could relate to too closely.

 

Dick swivels around to face him head on. His pupils are wide moving rapidly in angry confusion, never actually coming to a standstill and making proper eye contact. Jason stares back meaningfully, searching for some kind of acceptance on his brothers face. Dick grits his teeth. 

"Since when, Jay? Since now?" He seethes. Jason flinches inwardly.  "Since everyones found out so its time for some damage control? Newsflash Jason: Nothings changed."

 

"What the hell are you talking about-"

 

" _I_ said, nothing. has. fucking. changed, okay? Everything is the way it's always been with me and Bruce. With me and everyone. So why even bother, Jason?" Dick's fists are clenched, he's fuming, but his gaze is disconnected. He looks completely lost, dissociative. But in agony. "I'm fine like I've always been. Im fine with Bruce, Im fine like I'm always meant to be with everyone! It's nothing new!"

 

Insane. He looks insane.

 

"Dickie, you need to calm the fuck down-"

 

"And you need to stay out of my life!" Yelling. It's a pathetic yell, but dripping with fear and pain. "Nothings ever normal! Not for the both of us, not for me. So it's not important." Dick grabs Jason by the front of his jacket and shoves him. Jason only allows himself to stumble back a little before putting both his hands over his brothers fists on his jacket. "Im not important."

"Don't you dare say that again. _Ever_." Jason fixes him with an icy stare. Dick was scared, so had had to remain calm. Maybe riling him up wasn't the best idea he'd had, even though it had gotten them somewhere. Where this was heading, Jason had no idea. He just hoped he wouldn't end up emotionally scarring his brother further in the process. "You're a person, Dick. Not a machine created for Bruce's fucking mission."

 

Dick stills, breathing in and out heavily through his nose. He's heard that a lot, especially from his friends, from the titans and other various teams he's been a part of. But what they never understood, or even knew about was that...he was. He was created this way. He was raised like this. The mission, or Bruce's mission came before him. He remembers being a small kid and having being told it repeatedly again and again and again and as a kid he accepted it. He was desperate for approval. As he got older if he refused to comply to it there were consequences. Always put the mission first, _always put the mission first always put the mission first-_

 

"I am. Thats how i was raised to be." Dick breathes out, shoving Jason again and stumbling backwards himself. "And this is how it's meant to be. None of our lives our normal, Jay. These kinds of things don't apply to us."

 

Dick turns to walk away. What the shit. Did he really just admit to being a mere solider to Bruce? 

 

"Really?" Jason challenges him. "So if the same thing were happening to Tim. Or Damian, it wouldn't apply? Huh? It wouldn't matter?"

 

"Of-of course it would!"

 

"And so what? You don't expect me to give a shit because its happened to you? You're telling me it doesn't matter if it's you?"

 

"Im done with talking about this, Jason." His brother is slowly walking away from him now, head bowed towards the ground. "I already told you...It wouldn't happen to them. It's my fault it's like this. I'm meant to-"

 

"You're meant to be Batmans loyal fucking dog, aren't you Goldie? Thats why he's allowed to do whatever the shit he wants to you, right?" Jason shouts at him. Dick's reached the end of the alleyway where it meets the busy street. "You're fucking delusional!"

 

Dick spares Jason a glance of a few seconds before slipping away into the busy streets. Jason curses, taking a moment to calm down before going to follow him again. His brother needed serious help and Jason talking it out of him didnt seem to be helping him understand his own situation.

 

Before he starts walking in Dicks direction he hears the soft landing of boots behind him. A batkid.

 

"Todd."

 

Damian. Jason turns to look down at him. The kid has a scowl on his face as usual.

 

"What're you doin' in Bludhaven, demon?"

 

"I could ask you the same." Damian says in a brattish tone. He's in his robin gear, and something tells Jason he isn't just here for a visit. But how would he know, the kid wears the suit at every moment he possibly can. He can't blame him, Jason would do pretty much the same back when he was robin too. That kind of excitement, the desperation for the Batmans approval, the naivety of it all-

 

 _Huh_. Jason thinks. 

 

Being robin was a thrill. There were a lot of things he'd just accepted back then that he wouldn't accept now. A lot of things that he'd allowed to happen to him that he would avoid now. I mean, he was a kid, so how was he to know. Batman was his only figure of authority in his life at the time, and he still was for a lot of them, including Dick.

 

It bothered Jason, that his older brother somehow still held the naivety that came along with being robin. The absolute loyalty to Batman. While he himself had gone off and died and gotten fucked over by life repeatedly, Dick still held the same childlike attachment to the old man.

 

Maybe it was because Dick had been robin for much longer. Dick had been robin since he was-

 

 _Oh._ Jason thinks. _Oh no._

 

Jason feels sick. Maybe the problem was more deeply rooted than he was assuming. Maybe what Jason saw when he lived at the Manor _wasn't_ the beginning of it....

 

Bruce had Dick wrapped around a finger, not because of Dick's guilt or anxiety of failing him, not because he was a powerful figure of authority in his brothers life-

 

But simply because he _raised_ him.

 

Dick was _eight_ years old.

 

"Todd? Are you listening to me?" Jason feels a harsh tug at his jacket. Oh right, Damian.

 

Damian seems to have noticed his pondering because somehow his scowl grows deeper, he crosses his arms. "If you're quite done harassing my brother, I'm informing you that i will be taking Grayson back to Gotham right now, away from the future pestering of lowlifes such as yourself."

 

Back? To Gotham? Jason, let alone Dick himself wasn't gonna let that happen. Why would he want to go back? 

 

Jason pinches the bridge of his nose. Why'd he even get involved in these things anyways. He could be in one of his safe houses reading peacefully and cleaning his guns. "How many delusional batkids am i gonna deal with today, is what i should be asking myself. Dick's never gonna go with you."

 

Damian furrows his brows a smidge, but ultimately it just makes him look like an angry pug. "What are you on about? I informed him myself that i would be coming to get him a few hours prior. I arrive here and i see you attempting to traumatise him, you're quite lucky he wouldn't tolerate me castrating you on the spot or i would've, you imbecile."

 

Jason starts to growl. This kid was getting on his last nerve. "Im not trying to traumatise him- wait, he agreed to go back?"

 

"Duh. Anything to get away from you, and your insanity, Todd. And of course, he would choose me over you." Damian says nonchalantly, nose upturned. Jason has to scoff inwardly. Dick saw this kid as an absolute angel. "Grayson requires the comfort of those who know him better, not incompetent fools such as yourself adding to his stress. Besides, Pennyworth has been getting worried of his absence lately."

 

For all that it's worth, the kid sounds sad. Jason can tell he misses Dick and his presence in the Manor. It must've be weird to hear whatever Jason had to say to him about Bruce and not have Dick there to console him about it.

 

But Dick can't go back...Jason's still trying to get to the bottom of this.

 

"You can't take him." Jason says firmly. "He's been through a lot of shit you guys don't underst-"

 

"I understand what you are referring to, Todd." Damian says carefully. Todd seems to be hellbent over the fact that Father had hit Grayson. "The topic at hand... we will not mention it in front of him. Rest assured, I am merely only bringing him home for his own good, that he may take time to... recover from his stress. And patrol with us."

 

Jason exhales through his nose, angrily biting his lip. He takes a moment to shake his head in disbelief at the whole situation. "Is Bruce home?"

 

"No." Damian says. "Father has not returned." He's careful not to mention when he's returning. Todd will not want Grayson interacting with Father until he gets to pick a fight with him himself. Grayson will not like that. It's best to keep Todd out of the loop.

 

Jason sighs. The demon spawn might be right. Dick could use a bit of recovery time to reflect on everything. Ever since the incident his siblings, especially Jason himself have been bombarding him about it. Maybe he'll be ready to talk afterwards.

 

"Alright." Jason says, but puts up a finger to say he's not done. "But only for a little patrol time. I will come personally to drag him back here if you guys keep him too long. And under no circumstances is he to speak to Bruce. Capiche?"

 

Damian raises a brow. Who was Todd to dictate when or when not Grayson was to interact with Father. But he shrugs anyway, he had to remain secretive.

 

Damian shoots a line up in the air, rolling onto the roof where Grayson sat waiting for him.

 

"Hey lil'D." Dick smiles a small smile. "Ready to go?"


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone! thanks for sticking with me while i was on a short kinda hiatus! im back now with more frequent updates hopefully, but for now have this mini filler-ish chapter while i work on the next update!

The League was...taken aback to say in the least.

Most of them knew Nightwing personally, and had even seen him grow up to be the person he was now. It wasn't unknown that he and Batman had fallouts regularly, but it was water under the bridge by now. I mean, anyone who'd have a man like Batman as a father would have some issues. A lot of them admired Nightwing as being the one son who stood by the man so loyally despite that.

However Batman had a habit of ignoring his relations during missions. If someone was acting out of line, then they were just another person acting out of line. And Batman didn't tolerate anyone acting out of line. _Especially_ during a mission. If someone wasn't following the plan, Batman made his disapproval known to them efficiently. Apparently Nightwing wasn't an exception.

 

If it were any other hero-

 

Well if it were any other hero, Batman wouldn't have held back either. Nightwing had declared himself an independent hero, so why should he be treated any different? Admittedly, the kid was interrupting an important contract for them, but Batman could've definitely dealt with him more respectfully.

Diana understood this. But ultimately she was displeased with Bruce. If it were any other hero Batman wouldve punched them, or dismissed them differently. The slap seemed to have been more personal, more of a father showing aggression towards his son for misbehaving. Diana did not like this.

She had given him a piece of her mind when they were back at the Watchtower. _We do not punish our children for having different beliefs than us,_ she had said. Nightwing was not a child anymore, she knew this. But she had seen him as one, the few times robin would be at the Watchtower or times she would be at the batcave for League business. So it had disturbed her to see the now adult prodigy be subject to Batmans wrath that night. It must have been shameful for him.

Clark had similar thoughts, though he didn't voice them. He'd just taken it to giving Bruce the cold shoulder. Clark had known Bruce since Dick was a kid himself, but he'd mostly seen the aftermaths of their fallouts, especially when Bruce had fired him as robin, and the kid had come seeking refuge with him.

But that's the thing, Dick never actually wanted Clark to fix things for him, he only needed a person to seek comfort in, whether or not Clark wanted to give Bruce a piece of his mind. Clark had a lot of things to say about Bruce's parenting, but he knew the man was far beyond listening to him about it. And Dick definitely would _not_ appreciate him intervening, the kid could be under all sorts of stress because of his father but he _never_ tolerated anyone speaking for him about it. The methods of the Bat always could be considered controversial, he would do whatever it took to get the mission done. He knew whatever drove him was for the ultimate good, right? He wasn't really sure where to class this on the line of good or bad. It was all grey areas for Batman. Dick was an adult, and though Clark felt that what happened was wrong, he wasn't really sure whether the former robin would want him stepping in on an incident as personal as this.

He was sure they'd be fine afterwards. Bruce just got too intense sometimes, and Dick was strong willed enough to get through it.

It was pretty clear that the rest of the League was uncomfortable about what had happened as well, but it wasn't like they could really make a productive argument about it, or whether it was their place to even interfere. Nightwing, as likeable as he was to them, he wasn't a child for them to defend. He had made himself an equal, part of the league or not. 

Alas, if any of of them had an issue with what happened it was long forgotten in the midst of handling the chemical the League had gotten their hands on. Safekeeping it had been the top priority, and second to that was finding any traces of more and acquiring it.

 

Which is why Batman was returning to Gotham to get a little more intel on its shipments.

 

-

 

"Yes, tonight. I'll be there. No, the Gotham docks isn't a workable meeting point. I will inform you of the location exactly 2 hours before the meeting, I have to get there myself and see whether its secure. Others have been checking in on these shipments too, we're to avoid any....unwanted encounters." 

 

Slade strides across the tiled floor of one of his safe-houses, phone to his ear. 

 

He'd been able to get a hold of more of the chemical, and he had a few of his hired men and Wintergreen on its watch. It wasn't long before he was receiving calls from buyers, and Slade had finally agreed to one of them. He was to sell it tonight, but the chances of the contract being interrupted where high. 

 

"Yes, bring the full amount to the location. It's best to do this the traditional way, wouldn't want an online interruption from one of the Bats, easiest way for them to access is through hacking." Slade mentions, pondering for a moment. "Although i can't guarantee there won't be any interruptions from _Nightwing_. He tends to work more traditionally."

 

"No, of course. If he shows up i will deal with him-- myself. The contract stands. See you then."

 

Slade ends the call to look at the screen of his laptop where he was getting live feed of his hired men, handling the substance. Wintergreen who had been keeping an eye on them suddenly appears on screen.

 

"Are you quite certain about this? Wouldn't you rather wait for an offer from the Justice League?"

 

Slade grunts. "No. And i'd prefer if they didn't know about this contract."

 

"They would pay much more than your current buyer."

 

"Yes...but what's the point of the larger sum if I'm unsatisfied in the end."

 

"Hm."

 

Slade was sure the League would pay a hefty sum, anything to acquire the chemical made specifically against them. But the thing is, buying it wasn't a problem to them, just a chore. And Slade didn't like that. He was far from a honest person, far from. But one thing he stood by was fair exchange in his contracts. He does the job, they pay. No casualties. No damage from the buyer's side.

But last time... There was a casualty last time. And Slade was put off by the whole thing.

Nightwing was there, and while the young vigilante usually intercepted his contracts that landed in Gotham or Bludhaven, there was never an offence made towards him by the buyer. The kid would cause a diversion, maybe knock out the buyer's goons, delay the contract etc..and Slade would get pissed and deal with him. Maybe rough the kid up a little for messing up his job, serves him right for being a pain. But it was always a fair fight.

What had put him off completely that night was watching the kid's former mentor lay down the law on him as if he were his pet dog. The audacity to violently discipline the kid while his precious League looked on...

 Now Slade never hesitated to give a few beatings to Batmans child associates, but thats why he was their known enemy after all (though Nightwing somehow never acted like he was, the dumb fool)

But watching that... 

Nightwing was...Slades problem. He didn't appreciate some random buyer feeling like they had the right to deal with the boy. But Batman? Even worse. He'd wanted the kid to himself since he'd seen him running around with the Titans and yet still never managed to get him out of the control of the Bat.

Not only was Slade extremely unsatisfied after that contract, despite the hefty sum of money he'd just received...he just couldn't shake off this bothered and not to mention  _protective_  feeling towards the vigilante. 

Protective? Was Slade going soft? psht. no. he was _Possessive_ , is all. At least thats what he told himself.

He always knew there was something fucked up about the kid. His lack of sense of danger, how he so blindly was willing to put trust in anybody, even people who had thier worst intentions in him. I mean, that may just have been a part of his personality, Slade thought Dick Grayson was just an optimist, and an annoying one. And though he may be both of those things, a lot of it made sense now...that kind of mindset didn't just spawn out of nowhere. His own mentor applied these methods onto him, and so whole sense of self preservation was compromised since the beginning.

 

Slade wondered how such a person had survived in the vigilante world like this, so trusting, so patient-- compared to his brothers who practically hissed like cats and never let a villain come ten feet near them. And yet, Nightwing was the most skilled out of all of them, in most peoples eyes.

 

Slade hated him. But he hated anyone who abused power over Dick Grayson more.


	17. Chapter 17

Dick Grayson was kind of exhausted.

 

Returning to a Manor of two of his teenage brothers jumping for his attention and quite literally mother-henning him (so that's what that felt like) until he was seated at the kitchen table with a large Alfred cooked meal while they chattered away was enough to send him stumbling off to his old room afterwards.

He'd waved off his brothers politely, feigning a headache and using the excuses of his injuries to go get some shut eye. He'd need his energy to interact with them later on patrol.

 

He wasn't complaining though. It felt like ages since he'd been able to return to the comfort of his siblings without any heavy questions directed against him. Tim and Damian seemed to have missed him a lot, and it made sense since Bruce wasn't home so they were each others company apart from Alfred, and Dick was honestly wondering how the Manor wasn't on fire when he entered.

Well, because of Alfred, obviously. But still.

 

Dick collapsed onto his bed, face smushed into the soft pillow as he let out a deep sigh. He'd needed this. It wasn't just the warm meal or the comfort of his own room, but the feeling of his family who cared for him, who'd he could spend time with when he desperately needed a distraction from his own reality.

Its ironic, because he remembers years ago, when Dick was feeling trapped, and hurt, he would run from home. Because it was only him, no Tim, Damian, or even Jason. Or even the girls. He would run, to Babs, Wally, the Titans, you name it. But he did it so he could forget, not confront it. So he could find comfort in a distraction. If anyone tried to pry, or ask, he'd run again.

Dick Grayson ran from his problems a lot.

 

Current problem being, that his problems were coming out in the open.

 

Current problem being Jason.

 

Jason had found out everything.

 

Dick loved his brother, but Jason was being relentless. He wasn't sure of his intentions. And he hates that he would doubt Jason like this, but no ones ever tried to pry into his life and his past this deep. Dick was panicking and his family was going to know everything now. What kind of a person he was, what kind of a partner to Batman he was. All because he couldn't convince Jason that he was okay, that everything was normal, his normal. All because he let his emotions get the best of him again. He couldn't hide his secret, after all this time.

 

He couldn't run anymore.

Why couldn't his brother just leave it alone? He was just picking at a scab at this point and causing it to bleed. Causing Dick to relive his worst experiences again. 

 

What would Bruce think when he got back? That he was sat here complaining to his brothers about him while he was with the League? He'd be furious-

He'd flip out. He'd-

 

This was a disaster and Dick Grayson was at the very dead centre of it.

 

Dick squeezes his eyes shut, breathing heavily into his pillow.

 

-

 

"This is ridiculous, Pennyworth." Damian stares at the closed wooden door of Dick's bedroom as if it offended him. 

 

"It is hardly odd to take a light nap after a good meal, Master Damian. Im sure Master Dick will be happy to spend more time with you after he is fully recharged."

 

"-tt-" Damian looks up at Pennyworth in mild defence. "I am not- that is not what- I'm not missing him! I am only saying it is quite pathetic that he must sleep this much!"

 

"Of course, Master Damian. Im merely guessing. I'll be down in the kitchen if you need me." The old butler hums amusedly at the 14 year old as he retreats down the manor stairs. Damian huffs, turning back to stare at Grayson's door.

 

His brother had looked tired, admittedly. But it was unlike Grayson to actually retire to bed on his own, he usually insisted on spending time with his siblings, maybe suggest watching a movie or something and falling asleep there. Something was off if he wanted to be closed off in his room in the middle of the day. That was usually something that he or Drake would do to get away from the family.

Which only suggested that perhaps Grayson was not physically, but mentally feeling exhausted. Which leaves the question, why was his brother upset?

Or maybe Damian was being too paranoid, based off of the way Drake and Todd were behaving before?

 

"You're being paranoid."

 

 Damian twitches. However he doesn't bother to acknowledge Drake's presence behind him, instead starts scowling at himself inwardly for not noticing him sooner.

 

"He's just tired, Damian. Leave him alone."

 

"Do you ever make up your mind, Drake? Or do you just like to say the complete opposite of what I'm thinking?" Damian scowls, uncrossing his arms and glaring at the teen who had moved forward and was now in his peripheral vision. Tim's face contorts into a deep frown.

 

"I don't know what you're talking about, brat."

 

Damian grits his teeth, breathing heavily through his nose. "You, and Todd."

 

Tim is in front of him now, brows raised as if asking him to elaborate.

 

"I thought we agreed that he was spreading rumours as usual. But i can tell you've been hiding something from me." Damian fixes him with a glare. "Ever since Todd informed us about Father and Grayson, you've been acting like more of an incompetent fool than you already are!"

 

Tim looks on in surprise, quickly grabbing Damians arm and dragging him away from Dick's door before he could say anything else. 

  

"Get off of me, you cretin!" The kid snatches his arm back, shoving Tim away from him hard. The teen stumbles but catches himself on the wall behind him. He backs off though, since they're now far down the hallway from Dick's room. Damian points an accusatory finger at Tim's face. "Who's side are you even on?"

 

"Are you dumb? Don't talk about this in front of his fucking bedroom!" 

 

"Answer me first Drake! Who's side are you on!"

 

"Jesus-I literally don't even know what you're talking about!" Tim exclaims. 

 

"Im talking about Grayson, you fool. And Todd's accusations-"

 

"You're asking me to pick between Dick and Jason? What the hell are you on, brat? They're not even on opposing sides!" Tim yells incredulously. "There are no sides!"

 

"First, Todd throws blatant lies and accusations about Father at us, and you start to consider what he's said. But now, now that Grayson is home and is showing clear symptoms of distress you think _I'm_ being paranoid?" Damian sneers.

 

 

Tim blinks, staring at this kid. Bruce's son. Batman's son. He then remembers the video footage Jason had showed him of the night at the docks. The sound of the slap-

 

He didn't want to talk about it with Damian, whether or not he deserved to know, and neither did Jason, but for different reasons. Damians reactions were explosive, and quite frankly Tim didn't need two explosive brothers raising hell in their household without proper context, and before Bruce even got back. Jason however didnt want to tell Damian because of his combined loyalties to both his father and Grayson. It was too much to handle.

 

But there wasn't any point in Tim sugarcoating it now that Damian was starting to notice things.

 

 "Damian..." Tim sighs, rubbing a hand across his face.

 

Damian looks at Tim wide-eyed, as if his reaction was his answer. 

 

"So it's true." His voice is less furious and more resigned. "Father...he-" 

 

Tim swallows, nodding. Damian snaps his eyes up to look at him.

 

"So Todd was right, and you forget to mention this to me?!"

 

"Damian-"

 

"If you **knew** Father struck Grayson that night then why have you been acting like it was nothing, and _agreeing_ with me when i said we shouldn't infrom Todd about Fathers return tonight-" 

 

"Because." Tim snaps, looking Damian in the eye. "Jason is going to come hunting for Bruce. And you know how that's gonna end."

 

"So? What is wrong with that? Father deserves some retribution for acting in such a backward manner towards Grayson!"

 

"No, stop. The thing at the docks isn't the only case that he's been making. Jasons got a lot of other shit to say about Dick and Bruce and its-" Tim swallows again. "Its a pretty heavy accusation. He may be taking it too far."

 

Damian stares blankly at the teen before his stomach drops.

 

"Todd thinks Father has been-"

 

"Yeah. Too far, right?"

 

"Father is not that kind of man." Damian says, but he sounds like he's trying to convince himself more than anyone. "He wouldn't physically- Especially not Grayson."

 

Damian knew abuse. He knew what it had done to him. It made him closed off, and angry.

Grayson was neither of these things. His brother was joyful, or at least appeared to be most of the time. He was also very comfortable around father. It couldn't be, right?

 

"Drake." Damian huffs through his nose, his voice almost sounds tired of all the confusion. "Grayson is not okay. He is upset. Something is wrong-"

 

"How do you even know that? He's just tired."

 

"But i know something is wrong with him. He's my Batman, you wouldn't understand!" 

 

"It's nothing more than what we already know about, Damian." Tim sighs. "Besides, didn't you say Jason was pestering him before you brought him home? You know it's probably just the stress of having to deal with that. He'll be fine when i get him to talk to Bruce."

 

Damian sighs. "I suppose it would be best that Grayson and Father reconcile first."

 

"Exactly."

 

Damian hoped Drake was right.

 


	18. Chapter 18

Tim yawned, leaning back on his desk chair. He'd been working at a case for about an hour and a half, and he was starting to get a little hungry. He rubs his fist over his eyes tiredly, blinking and blearily makes his way out of  his room. 

 

The hallway is empty, and Tim can't help but look at Dick's room a few rooms down from his. The door was still shut and there was no noise.

Whatever anxious feeling that began to arise, Tim immediately squashed. _Don't overreact. Dick will be fine once you get him and Bruce to talk normally again, like always._

 

Bruce's broad shouldered frame could be seen hunching over a newspaper in the kitchen as the teen walked downstairs. Tim felt a surge of relief that he was back. The man had been off with the League for an entire month, and Tim hadn't met him when he was temporarily in Gotham for the docks meeting.

 

He wasn't sure if he was relieved that it was Bruce that was home or if it was the prospect of him getting to finally fix things between everyone.

 

"Bruce," Tim says, walking up to the man. He reminds himself to maintain a straight face, as he wasn't exactly happy with the older man. "Glad you're back."

 

Bruce grunts, but it looks like he realises that he should probably acknowledge Tim better so he lifts his head briefly to nod and say "Tim," in response. Tim doesn't mind the reservedness. He knows Bruce is pleased to see him, the guy is just not good at showing emotion at all through words. The fact that he even responded more than a grunt must have been because of the fact that Dick had pestered him about greeting people properly repeatedly.

 

Dick was usually the one that appeared as a voice-in-your-head guy, at least for Tim. He can imagine the same must be for Bruce. The impact that Dick had on the family was insane, and that's probably what caused the most tension between him and Bruce, who one would consider the original head of the family. And thats why Tim had to get them to talk it out, remind Bruce that Dick is also his son, his child and not just a guy with a different opinion than him.

 

Which is why instead of returning the acknowledgement with a smile, he fixes him with a poker faced look, and takes a seat at the kitchen table.

 

Bruce obviously doesn't notice his purposeful pokerface, or probably notices it but ignores it as he continues to read the paper. Tim clears his throat.

 

"So uh," He shuffles around in his seat a bit. "Everything go smoothly with the contract? Have you preserved the chemical?"

 

Bruce doesn't look at him but Tim can see the man's eyebrow twitch, a micro movement a regular person wouldn't catch. But Tim, like the rest of the family had known the man for a while to understand what he was feeling.

 

"I don't recall discussing this with you."

 

"I don't recall you discussing this with me either, even though you should have." Tim says, a tone of frustration creeping into his voice. "Did you think me and Babs wouldn't find out? Even after you destroyed the security camera footage?"

 

Bruce puts the paper down, focusing his eyes on Tim. _Finally_.

 

"If you had a problem with the decision i made with the League about the chemical after finding out about it, you would have told me." Bruce fixes him with a stare. "But that doesn't seem to be the case here, since you _and_ Barbara didn't try to stop me. So what's the real issue here?"

 

Tim snorts, he can't help it. 

 

"You're right, i don't really care about the contract. In fact, i agree with you about preserving the chemical, even if you paid Deathstroke for it. Which is weird, by the way--but i don't care about that. So i didn't say anything, and same with Babs... even though she didn't appreciate you blocking camera footage to do it. Why can't you just be honest, Bruce?"

 

Bruce exhales, leaning his chin on his hands. Tim looks at him with frustration in his eyes.

 

"You're upset about something else."

 

It's Tim's turn to sigh. He reaches for the coffee pot across the table and gets up to get a mug from a cabinet in the kitchen. Bruce watches him.

He sits back down and starts to pour himself some coffee, all the while looking extremely disturbed. Its still silence tension between the two as the teen takes a few sips of his coffee.

 

"Tim," Bruce begins.

 

"Why did you hit Dick?" Tim says suddenly.

 

Bruce doesn't seem to have a visible reaction to that question, but if he does Tim can't see it because he refuses to look at the man, or maybe he can't because the prospect of even having this conversation is disturbing him.

 

"You recovered the footage?" Bruce asks instead, exactly 30 seconds after the question was posed. Either he was thinking about how Tim found out or how best to talk without angering the boy further. It was probably the latter, knowing Bruce he could have been expecting this to happen anyway. It was rare that he was surprised by anything.

 

"I said," Tim forces himself to look at Bruce this time, but there's still lack of eye contact. "Why did you hit Dick?"

 

"Not the footage then." Bruce pauses, brows furrowing ever so slightly. "Nightwing showed you his mask footage?"

 

" _Dick_  didn't show us anything. He wouldn't even respond to our calls, Bruce." Tim clarifies, his tone cautiously steady. "He left-- went back to Bludhaven immediately after what you did to him at the docks."

 

"Hm."

 

"'Hm'? Thats it?"

 

Bruce grunts an affirmative, picking up the newspaper once again. "If you've seen...Nightwing's mask footage then you already know what happened."

 

Tim looks at him in disbelief and he stands up, slamming his hand down on the paper so that it stopped covering Bruce's face. 

 

"I know." He says, and now he has a voice of interrogation. "I know he interrupted your contract, Bruce. What i want to know is _why_ you decided to hit him, of all things."

 

"Are you questioning my methods of removing interruptions from League missions, Timothy? What did Dick _did_ was create a scene, and he was not standing down on my orders either. It had to be dealt with efficiently. I apologise if you don't like the harshness of it, but that's the way it has to be to get things done."

 

"Oh right, because getting things done means hitting your son doesn't it!" 

 

"What would you have done then, Tim?" Bruce challenges. "Nightwing was disobeying orders despite my constant warnings. It's his own doing."

 

"I wouldn't have hit him that's for sure!"

 

"Then do tell me a better option." Bruce's voice is raising slightly, but Tim isn't worried about it. For him Bruce was mostly bark and no bite.

 

Tim makes a frustrated sound. "This wouldn't have happened if you had just told him and all of us about your plan!"

 

"You think that would have worked? If i had informed him beforehand he would have come, interrupted and objected in the same way, and possibly even more effectively. We couldn't afford that. The League has many other responsibilities to attend to." Bruce states. "If you can't raise a reasonable suggestion of what i should have done instead then this discussion is over."

 

Tim blinks, taking a seat back at his chair. He absolutely hated how logical minded and emotionless Batman was, but also the fact that he was like that too, and so he couldn't help but understand what the man was saying.

 

The teen sighs, looking back up at Bruce. 

 

"Look, Bruce. Dick didn't deserve that, regardless of whatever happened. You have to understand that you humiliated him, and just because he's an adult and doesn't live with us anymore doesn't mean you get to treat him like a pawn or a random 'interruption' in your mission, okay?"

 

Bruce grunts again, frowning. 

 

"Bruce."

 

"I understand you, but these are just the consequences of his actions."

 

Tim closes his eyes and exhales through his nose. He should get an award for dealing with this family's issues in the least emotionally compromised way possible. 

 

"You have no idea what happened after that night. Dick ran back to Bludhaven and wouldn't respond to any of our calls, we didn't even know he was there until Babs informed us of his location the day after."

 

"I'll have to speak to him about being that irresponsible."

 

"Yes, Bruce, you better talk to Dick. To _apologise to him."_ Tim informs him clearly. "And you don't even want to know what Jason-"

 

"Jason?" 

 

"You have no idea? Do you?" Tim rubs his face with his hands tiredly, voice returning to normal. "I hope you're happy, because not only have you upset Dick, but Jason is on your case for abuse."

 

Bruce squints ever so slightly. Tim doesn't notice as he downs his coffee.

 

"He's really angry. We haven't told him you're back because he's the one who saw what you did to Dick and now he's accusing you of child abuse. Which is dumb because Dick is literally older than him. I think he just wants an excuse to fight you."

 

Bruce doesn't say anything, he seems to be in contemplation of something. They fall into a companionable silence, at least to Tim, who soon excuses himself to go finish working on the case he was working at before.

 

Just as he's heading for the doorway of the kitchen he bumps into someone.

 

"Oh- didn't see you Timmy." The person chuckles lightly.

 

"Dick!" Tim looks up, greeting his brother. "Finally you're up. And perfect timing-"

 

Dick blinks as his brother comes behind him and pushes him into the kitchen. 

 

"Tim- what---oh. Bruce?"

 

"There." The teen says, like a child who's just finished a puzzle. "You two are going to talk it out before we head for patrol today, right Bruce?"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone. sorry for yet another hiatus. i had so much work to do i cannot even begin to tell y'all-- but what really kept me going was the fact that i was still getting comments from you all about the story! hopefully i can update more now in the holidays. so yeah enjoy! and happy holidayssjbdhbchdj


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone, thanks for sticking with me through my sudden cliffhangers ahah, im such a lazy writer. but then again writing a fic on such a sensitive topic as this is kinda hard, thats why right now i feel like i need to address something about this,,,so,,im just gonna jot down my thoughts,,you dont have to read them. 
> 
>  
> 
> Bruce is definitely in the wrong here, but its hard to label him as a good/bad person. Batman isn't really a good person, but he is driven to help people whether its through vengeance, his mission or whatever. There are many things that can be questioned about him, and people have different views about them, for example some people may think training children to fight crime is bad and that makes him bad, or that going against the law is bad, etc. But one thing i wan't to make clear is that in this story i AM saying that Bruce is in the wrong for the way he treats his eldest. And its not actually far from canon, as you all comic readers know. But still, we know that bruce does care for his kids, but that doesn't erase this sin of his. What we can say is that he isn't inherently good or bad, but he's just a dude with an agenda. Like Slade, who kills and hurts people for money yet still has his own morals. But he's depicted as a villain because his agenda seems to be centred around the killing and hurting, and whether you call him good or bad depends on how you feel about killing. For contrast lets take Jason Todd as the Red Hood, he wants to do good, but he's a killer. So yeah, a lot of grey area in comics, but thats also how real life is. You may have someone who you love and who cares about you but they can hurt you deeply.
> 
> on the topic of Tim, yes, its infuriating for me to write him as being this oblivious, mostly because i like tim--but like, again, to Tim, he's only seen the video of Batman hitting Nightwing for disobeying orders. So to him it looks like Batman is treating Dick like an obstacle or an nuisance rather than a son. To Tim, Bruce is wrong, but not bad. Tim is not happy with Bruce because Bruce hit his adult son, which is obviously humiliating and emotionally scarring. But he doesn't know how far deep the man's sin goes. So what he's trying to do is to get them to make up and explain to Bruce that he shouldn't have done that.,,,rather than actually seeing it for what it is (abuse). Tim doesn't have a lot of context you see, he was pretty much neglected by his own parents before being adopted by Bruce, and doesn't have the same context or experience that Jason has with Bruce and Dick's inside relationship. So in his eyes, he's just doing what he can to fix things between them, like he did before when he was becoming robin/after jay died.
> 
> Damian is an example of someone who's been abused for a "greater" agenda. And so he should be able to recognise this also, but he again, like Tim hasn't been given a lot of context, he hasn't even seen the video and has known Dick and Bruce for the least amount of time compared to the rest. But because of his closeness to Dick he's starting to catch on.
> 
> Jason, on the other hand has realised immediately whats going on. He has first hand experience to abuse and, has seen the worst parts of the relationship between the father and son. But has no idea how to act on it. His immediate reaction is to kick the shit out of Bruce but he isn't able to because he's having to deal with the victim instead. His intentions are to help Dick, but because he's mostly angry at Bruce and he isn't used to being the consoling brother/family member he's having trouble dealing with him, and ends up acting impatiently and in the process spooking his brother. but he's trying his best, regarding the fact that this situation is personal to him, as his own father used to abuse him. This situation is trickier for him to explain to Dick because Bruce makes it look like he's only disciplining his son and not just beating him up whenever he feels annoyed by him. And that has conditioned Dick to believe that its his own fault this is happening to him. And the thing is Bruce might even himself believe that he's doing this for Dick's own good, or at least thats what he'll tell himself. I do believe that Bruce cares for Dick and wouldn't want any harm to come to him unless its himself doing the harming, maybe because he sees Dick more as his belonging/property rather than a son. Again, Bruce just seems like a guy with an agenda and wack af morals. He wants to help people but at the same time causes pain to his own kids just because he cant control his own emotions. At least, thats how i see him from the comics.
> 
>  
> 
> (I've continued this in the end notes if you're still reading this lmao spare me-)

_Tim closes his eyes and exhales through his nose. He should get an award for dealing with this family's issues in the least emotionally compromised way possible._

_"You have no idea what happened after that night. Dick ran back to Bludhaven and wouldn't respond to any of our calls, we didn't even know he was there until Babs informed us of his location the day after."_

_"I'll have to speak to him about being that irresponsible."_

_"Yes, Bruce, you better talk to Dick. To apologise to him." Tim informs him clearly. "And you don't even want to know what Jason-"_

_"Jason?"_

_"You have no idea? Do you?" Tim rubs his face with his hands tiredly, voice returning to normal. "I hope you're happy, because not only have you upset Dick, but Jason is on your case for abuse."_

_Bruce squints ever so slightly. Tim doesn't notice as he downs his coffee._

_"He's really angry. We haven't told him you're back because he's the one who saw what you did to Dick and now he's accusing you of child abuse. Which is dumb because Dick is literally older than him. I think he just wants an excuse to fight you."_

_Bruce doesn't say anything, he seems to be in contemplation of something. They fall into a companionable silence, at least to Tim, who soon excuses himself to go finish working on the case he was working at before._

_Just as he's heading for the doorway of the kitchen he bumps into someone._

_"Oh- didn't see you Timmy." The person chuckles lightly._

_"Dick!" Tim looks up, greeting his brother. "Finally you're up. And perfect timing-"_

_Dick blinks as his brother comes behind him and pushes him into the kitchen._

_"Tim- what---oh. Bruce?"_

_"There." The teen says, like a child who's just finished a puzzle. "You two are going to talk it out before we head for patrol today, right Bruce?"_

 

-

 

The acrobat's throat is suddenly very dry, and for someone who moves around so comfortably he cant help but stand rigidly as Tim pushes him further into the kitchen. Bruce hasn't looked up from the article he was reading, and Tim makes an impatient noise at him.

 

 _This is too soon,_ Dick thought. He had no idea what he was gonna say to Bruce, or how much Bruce even knew was going on while he was away. Whether or not the man found out that Dick had unintentionally planted the idea of Bruce abusing him in his brothers head. 

 

When did Bruce get back? What- why didn't anyone tell him? He feels betrayed yet there was nothing for him to feel betrayed about. Bruce is his adoptive dad and this is Bruce's home, so why should anyone inform Dick? Dick finds that he can't even form a coherent thought in his head right now. Things were always tense between him and Bruce after a fight.

 

"Dick." Bruce greets, looking up warmly from his paper after Tim made another noise at him, and Dick finds himself immediately melting.

 

 _I mean, what was i thinking?_ Dick's inner voice says. What was he thinking? This was Bruce, the man who took him in, helped him through the worst time in his life when his parents died. The man who raised him like a son, groomed him and despite his behaviour never disowned him. Admittedly he could have been more considerate and respectful towards Dick's opinion about the contract, but what was that against everything that Bruce had done for him? 

 

Dick finds that he forgets his previous resentments towards Bruce whenever he sees the man again. Its a continuous cycle, he can't find the strength in himself to hold the man responsible for anything. He always manages to remind himself that realises he loves him and that all he wants is to make Bruce proud.

 

"Bruce," Dick manages to breathe out, he's still stood awkwardly in the centre of the kitchen with an exasperated Tim behind him. "Didn't know you were coming back so soon." He makes a point to shoot Tim a look. Tim sticks out his tongue. 

 

"Well now he is. Surprise." the teen says, and pulls his older brother to the table where Bruce was sat and pushes him onto a chair. Dick stumbles. Why was he so nervous? Get it together, Dick. You've known this man for years, longer than any of your siblings.

 

"I came back to consult you, actually." Bruce admits, looking at Dick with an honest expression. Dick furrows his brows. Why him? And why now? As far as he knew Bruce was mad at him. Last time they met Bruce didn't even want him at the docks, and when he wouldn't leave he-

 

 _Well, that's in the past._ Dick lets out a shaky breath. Time to move on. _Like you always do. Bruce needs you to cooperate._

 

"Please, don't start an another argument." Tim says, shooting Bruce a look. "I'll see you guys at patrol." he announces, and then proceeds to slink out of the room, but not before pouring himself another cup of coffee. Dick blinks at the kitchen doorway. Sometimes he wonders how Tim appeared so calm during tense situations.

 

Or maybe the situation was just tense for him. _Stop being so emotional, Dick._

 

"Tim seems to have handled things well in my absence." Bruce comments as a start, putting the paper down. Dick blinks again, wondering what exactly the two were talking about before he got to the kitchen. Telling by Bruce's willingness to talk to him, Tim must have told him off about something-

 

"Dick." Bruce says after noticing the detachment on his sons face. "Tim tells me you left Gotham without informing anyone. You know that in my absence responsibility of the city falls on you, or do i have to make it clear everytime i leave?"

 

Dick cringes at his past self. It was stupid of him to leave like that. He couldn't just get up and abandon the city and his siblings just because he felt sorry for himself.

 

"Sorry- I wasn't in the right...state of mind." He admits pathetically. "Its just.. i freaked out after you-" Dick stops himself. He didn't have much social anxiety as an ex circus performer, so he was probably unaware that he was creating a scene back at the docks. He's pretty sure Bruce intended to knock some self consciousness into him back then (and by knock, in the literal sense).

 

"Seems like thats what happened. Still, i'd expect you to get over any sort of...'distracting emotions' in moments like these. You certainly didn't have any issues with this before. " Bruce says.

_Yes, well before when he was reprimanded it was usually in the safety of the batcave and not in front of an entire audience-_

 

Before he could elaborate, Dick tries to divert the topic.

 

"L-Look, Bruce. I came back to Gotham as soon as i could, this morning actually! Just.. didn't know you'd be back so soon."

 

"Hm," Bruce eyes him, expressionless.  He looks like he wants to say more, but he seems to think twice about it. _Tim asked him not to start an argument._

 

It kind of bothered Dick that his siblings were so easy around Bruce, like they never felt worried about offending the man or saying the wrong thing. Dick was pretty comfortable too, he was the one known to actually make him genuinely laugh most times, and on good days one could definitely say they worked well together, i mean, they were the original dynamic duo.

But it was the bad days that had Dick walking on eggshells, while the rest of his siblings behaviour around Bruce remained unchanged. Jason being his usual aggressive self, he could say anything to Bruce and the man would only have a resigned look on his face. Dick passed it off as guilt for letting him die, but even Tim, could tell the man off, outsmart him sometimes and Bruce would merely lecture him. And of course Damian would be his usual entitled, childish self and show no limits to his attitude and yet face no threats from his father. 

 

Dick sighs. Why was he being so pathetic?

 

"So..you said you wanted to ask me something?" He forces himself to level his tone of voice, and sit up straighter.

 

"I came back because i had a task for you."

 

Honestly, Dick thought his dad would want nothing more to do with him after what happened.

 

"You...have a task for me?" Dick asks slowly. Again, why him? He wasn't even in Gotham until today. And plus theres others that do tasks for Bruce, like Tim, or Damian. Or one of the girls. Who are even willing to do tasks for him.

 

"A misson, more like. Concerning the chemical."

 

"A misson."

 

"Yes."

 

"Concerning the..chemical."

 

"..Yes." Bruce says impatiently. "Why, is that an issue?"

 

Dick supposes it was the amount history between him and Bruce that strained the relationship between them. That and, as the eldest, there were too many expectations placed upon him. Any recklessness or misbehaving on his part had to be reprimanded by Bruce because they just couldn't afford that from him, he was meant to be the responsible one. He was the one people referred to when someone mentioned Batman's associates. And everyone that knew him and everyone from his family expected so much from him that sometimes Dick found it hard to breathe, to mess up. 

And Dick knows that its because of these expectations that everyone called him perfect. His siblings always liked to shove it in his face. He's the robin that turned out "right", according to anyone who talking about them.

But why should he complain? His past hasn't been as worse as his is family members. They all had thier traumas and Dick felt like his were just average compared to theirs. The amount of things Damian went through before the age of ten Dick couldn't even imagine.

If Dick is the son that Bruce looks to first, the "golden boy" like Jason often liked to remind him, then he should be able to at least do what Bruce expected of him. 

Right?

 

" _Dick_." Bruce says, shaking Dick out of his thoughts. 

 

Dick jumps. "Uh, yeah..i just figured you wouldn't want me in on this, considering.."

 

"I've seen the information you've collected concerning the shipments."

 

"You've been- you have access to my laptop? My files?" Dick looks at him in bewilderment, before his face contorts in reigned discomfort. He sighs. "Of course you do."

 

Bruce eyes him again, calculating look on his face.  Dick is usually able to read people pretty easily, and he knows Bruce wants to tell Dick what to do and expect him to carry out his orders without complaint...but he can also somewhat tell that his guardian is trying his best to have a pleasant conversation with him (even though that was mostly Tim's effort) but Dick has to give it to him for making an effort.

 

_Why am i being so difficult. Stop whining, he's relying on you for a mission._

 

Bruce ignores his previous whine. "It was good intel. Impressive...amount of information from Deathstroke."

 

 _Impressive that you managed to get this much intel, especially from a mercenary like Deathstroke._ Is what Dick translates in his head. He finds himself beaming at the hidden praise. He cant help but grin a little.

 

"Yeah, apparently there's a shipment tonight and one tomorrow night. Although the locations aren't disclosed yet-"

 

"Exactly." Bruce interrupts, and he stands up. Dick flinches a bit at the sound of his stool dragging on the kitchen tile behind him.

 

"Where are you-"

 

"Downstairs." Bruce says simply. "I want to discuss the possible locations with you."

 

Dick blinks, and he cant help but grin again. Bruce actually wanted to work with him, talk to him. He wasn't just getting Tim to inform him about a mission instead. 

 

_Could this be his way of apologising? He wants my input so he must've felt bad..._

 

Either way, Dick was happy to feel needed again. He bounces off the stool he was perched on and follows Bruce to the cave.

 

As the two leave, Tim looks on from his hiding spot across the hall where he was sat listening. He beams proudly at Bruce's offer to discuss things in the cave, and ask for Dicks input and views for whatever mission was to be given to him. Tim knows thats the most the man will do to apologise and mend things, and he was positive Dick would appreciate it and feel better again. This was Bruce's way of treating his kids like a partner rather than a soldier, and thats exactly what Dick needed, Tim thought.

 

Satisfied, Tim trudges back up to his room to finish up some work before patrol.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cont. of the rant i had started in beginning notes:  
> (also i mean no offence to anyone, i respect others opinions about what they think is right or wrong,, i just want to clear things out regarding this fic and what MY thoughts are.)
> 
>  
> 
> Anyways, It may seem kind of ironic that im writing a fic on abuse because im an asian person myself, and where im from, its the norm for parents to lightly discipline their kids (ya know, slap on the wrist or a slipper thrown atchu or whatever.) I know some people would see this as wrong, but the thing about this kind of discipline is the intent towards the children isn't a bad one, and it's definitely not meant to hurt them emotionally, or cause any sort of injury. AT ALL, because THAt would be abuse. This kind of discipline (when done right) is done out of pure concern for the children. From my personal experience, the purpose of this is to keep kids in line and respectful of thier parents and elders (if you're asian/black you'll prolly already understand what i mean lmao). So when these kids are adults they're still conditioned to be respectful and humble,,rather than face no consequences (or weak consequences) for bad actions. (i mean, we dont even address adults by thier name because its disrespectful, there are usually terms that are used like "aunty" or "uncle" or words for "big sister/brother" etc etc in our languages.) 
> 
> Now obviously people can go under the guise of "discipline" and use this the wrong way, they can go overboard and have malicious intent, that would make it abuse, and therefore WRONG. (((It doesn't mean using discipline is wrong, but look, you have norms and rules and if some people abuse them that doesn't make the belief or norm wrong, only the people who abuse the rules. You can have someone who doesn't hit thier kids, but raise thier kids badly anyways. Or you can have people who do hit thier kids out of concern or betterment for them, and in the process raise compassionate and respectful humans. This kind of discipline is really jus meant for kids though, because they dont know the difference between whats right or wrong.--anyways thats me going off on a tangent.)))
> 
>  
> 
> tHE reaL poINT that im trying to make is,,, that Bruce IS NOT doing what he's doing out of fatherly concern for his soN. He's literally hitting his kid and threatening him(and in a vERY HARSH MANNER) for having opinions different to his. For beinG HIMSELF. What Bruce is doing IS NOT a parent disciplining his disobedient son who he is concerned about, he's not trying to teach him right or wrong, its not "tsk tsk what is this behaviour imma throw my slipper atchu so you behave yourself and act like a decent human being in society",,,,its more like "youre doing things that i dont want you to, and i dont care what you want because my opinion is THE only opinion, and since i own you i will exercise my right to hit you so you can get it through your thick skull that IM THE BOSS, no matter how old you get."
> 
> Bruce is exercising violence onto Dick because he wants him to be loyal to him, as a dog, or a donkey would (like Slade, and Jason pointed out in the fic). What he wants is a SOLDIER for his MISSION. now yes, maybe at first, when dick was a kid, one could argue it was out of parental concern, but in this fic (and arguably in the comics) its really escalated, Dick is an adult, and its still happening. and its there in the comics too, but i cant really say if its the same since i dont know what dc writers were thinking when they wrote scenes like that but yeah,, its fishy af. like,, why Bruce- stop hitting your kids every time you have a temper tantrum-
> 
> (sorry this is so long, im like, a philosophy major so i tend to talk a hecking ton about morals,,and i had a lot on my mind about this fic so)...,,,,.(ALSO alsO im sorry if my english is terrible,,its my second language whoop)


	20. Chapter 20

 

There wasn’t such a thing as a quiet night in Bludhaven. Noise reached through every neighbourhood, people chatting, music blaring through cars driving by, the chatter of teenagers messing around, cats meowing, the works. Jason was starting to get annoyed. He never quite figured out why the hell Dick would move to a place like this. And it was not like Gotham was much better, but it was still familiar ground. It was home.  
  
And that's when Jason feels his stomach twist, and no, it isn't the alleyway stench or the sight of rats and garbage and piss thats getting to him as he climbs through the window of the safehouse he and Dick were in previously.   
  
He curses as he stumbles into the safehouse, his thoughts consuming him. He had to see what Dick was working on. His brother was stubborn, and wasnt going to stop despite Jasons warnings of how word must have spread. So maybe he could help him bust the shipments of the chemical instead.

Just a shame they couldn't work together on better terms. 

 

_What if I'm just making it worse for him, so much that he had to run back to Gotham, the very place he fled?_

 

Jason shook his head. _Snap out of it. Dick doesn't need you feeling sorry for yourself, he needs support. Besides..._

 

Dick didn't run away from Gotham, he ran away from _Bruce_.

 

If Jason had the time and energy he'd make a chart for Tim to look at of all the times Dick returned to Gotham when Bruce wasn't around. Like even now, how easily Dick agreed when Damian came to take him back to the place he just ran from a few days prior. Because Bruce wasn't there. So no matter what kind of a shithole Gotham was, or what underlying threats were there, it was _safe_.  
  
But then again, knowing how the old man had the replacement wrapped under a finger he'd probably make the excuse that it was because Dick was meant to watch over Gotham while Bruce was gone.

 

But see, Jason didn't have the time and energy to explain shit to Tim. At least not for talking shit out like this. No, all he had was anger and a drive for justice. Justice for Dick, whether idiot wanted it or not. And he was gonna take what he could get, no matter who was on his side.

 

Jason sighs, grabbing the his brothers discarded laptop from the bedroom he was occupying previously. Time to see what information he'd gotten out of Slade.

 

_This is all wrong, this is all so wrong._

 

 

\---

 

"So..whats the case?" Dick inquired eagerly as he followed his father--who was now dressed for patrol-- down towards the Batcomputer. 

 

 

Dick believed in family. He believed in maintaining his relationships with everyone, no matter what their history was, Dick a forgive and forget kind of person, and he definitely wasn't one to hold grudges.

 

Even Nightwing was known to give criminals a chance to talk before he beat them up.

 

If he'd held things that people had done against them, he wouldn't be on talking basis with Jason, or with Bruce, he even made it a point to continue to be friends with all of his exes. There was never cold shoulder around Dick Grayson. And thats exactly why Tim knew he only had to nudge Bruce to move forward a tiny bit and Dick would run ten steps towards Bruce.

 

"Bruce..?"

 

Not bothering to turn his head in Dick's direction, Bruce says "I’m going to train you out of lying to me."

 

_Wait, what?_

 

Dick stops in his tracks immediately, blinking, trying to get a read on the body language of his mentor.

 

"...uh.." He clears his throat. "I don't follow?"

 

The man in front of him doesn't move, his large figure just looms over the computer. It doesn't help that his back is to Dick.

He’s beginning to suspect that he’s missing something crucial here. He feels his stomach sink as Bruce pulls out a location on the bat computer. Dick stares, brows furrowing. The location is halfway from Gotham to Blüdhaven, and Dick recognises the area as one used for your usual weapons deals etc. But the underlying tone and accusation his Bruce's voice suddenly has Dick on edge.

 

“Bruce,” the acrobat says with a sense of intense foreboding, “What’s… what’s going on?"

 

" _Jason_." The man growls.

 

Dick blinks. It's two seconds before he feels like he's stopped breathing.

 

_OhGod._

 

A red dot located Jason on the map exactly where Dick had found out the shipments were going to be. Obviously Slade was smart, he wouldn't have kept them there after Nightwing has snatched the USB but it just showed that Jason was in on the apparent top secret mission that was only now being given to Dick.  
  
  
"Bruce, i didn't mean to- i wasn't trying to-"

 

“Shut up,” the older man growled, fitting his cowl onto his head, immediately making him look more intimidating. "I taught you how to lie but that doesn't mean i don't know when you're playing at something."

 

This can't be happening. Dick knew it was a mistake to have told Jason what happened. To even get him involved at all.

 

Jason has always been a sensitive topic between him and Bruce, especially after said second robin... had died. Dick's interactions with Bruce before and after his death were...chaotic to say in the least. He was a fool. He was so so stupid to even let this thing between him and Bruce to catch Jasons attention.

Dick had learned from experience that any issues he was having with Bruce should stay between him and Bruce. And any issues Bruce was having with Jason he should not comment anything about.

 

When he came to Bruce after Jason had died....

 

Dick tries to control his breathing. He didnt do anything wrong he just had to explain to Bruce that Jason was prying.

 

"You have to believe me I wasn't trying to start anything. I wasn't trying to get Jason involved. Bruce please, i just took some time to recuperate _that's all-_ "

 

 Batman bares his teeth, and slaps the young hero across the face with his open palm, the harsh sound echos throughout the cave. Dick doesn't stumble backwards this time, this was a more precise blow intended to sting more than shove. And besides, this, this is something he was familiar with. Standing shamefully in the cave after a bad patrol, arguing with Bruce and being a complete menace until the man was forced to discipline him like this.

 

Dick stays unmoving, then slowly inches a hand up to his throbbing cheek, the same one that had been struck not long ago at the docks. Tears threaten to fall from his now watery eyes. Batman watches him, looms over him, as if daring him to cry.

 

"Then why," Bruce says very lowly. "is he at the location of the shipments."

 

"I didnt tell him to go there, Bruce i swear. He found out- just like Tim and everyone else found out about the chemical themselves-"

 

Bruce grabs his face with force, moving him to look into the white lenses of his cowl.

 

Dick flinches, but its minor. Shame pools into his stomach at his own childish reactions. He hates that he was five foot ten. He hates that he had an acrobat's figure sometimes, and sometimes wishes he was tall and burly like Bruce, or Jason. 

He hates that felt like the same little boy standing in front of the dark and scary Batman, not his adoptive father Bruce.

 

"Don't play dumb." A step closer, and Dick stumbles backwards, but his face is still in a tight grip. "You've been acting out. Trying to cause a commotion to get the attention of others. You know these problems are insignificant, yet you decide to bring Jason into them-"

 

"No. M' not." Dick pleads. "I'm not. I swear."

 

One thing Dick noticed is that it was rarely, very rarely Bruce who exercised this kind of violence. Now Dick was a pretty good actor, almost so good that sometimes he had to remind himself that he was not the overconfident and cocky Nightwing, nor the spoilt brat adoptive son of a billionaire. And even though his true self consisted of these two elements, they were only exaggerated parts of his personality. He was Dick Grayson, last of the flying Graysons, whoever that may be he was still working out. 

But for Bruce it was like he had only two moods, Bruce Wayne, or Batman (the Brucie Wayne persona he put on didn't count because it was quite literally an act). And of course, other than Alfred, Dick was closest to the man. So he knew that his father had emotions, he knew Bruce cared for him deeply but-

Sometimes he thinks if Bruce had the option of just being Batman and not having to be Bruce Wayne, the man would take it. And Batman was purely mission oriented, harsh and to the point. Dick kind of feels like he was taught his basic morals of right and wrong, and most of what he knew not by Bruce, but by Batman.

 

Bruce releases him when tears begin to form and slide down his face from his already watery eyes. Dick focuses on breathing in and out.

 

Here's the thing, when Bruce took Jason in, he spent a lot of time with the kid as Bruce. And when Jason was given the title of Robin and they started to patrol, most of Batman's frustrations were taken out when he fought with Dick who was transitioning into Nightwing, rather than Jason. And it didnt help that Dick was feeling betrayed and hurt by the feeling of being replaced, so he was being even more of a menace than usual towards Batman.

 

Dick has to remind himself that he shouldn't be jealous, but that it was a good thing that Jason got to have a nice (though short) time living with Bruce, and not being the subject to Batmans anger that Dick probably caused him.

 

Obviously when Jason died, Batman only had one person to take his frustrations out on. And Dick had a lot of hurtful things to say to the man too. He regrets it. It was his fault for aggravating him after a loss of a son, right?

 

And when Tim came into the picture, he had come in to help Bruce, not aggravate him more. The kid still lived with his parents at the time, so he would only either see Batman on patrol or occasionally if he came to the manor. And besides, Tim was a good kid. Not like himself, Dick thought. Tim was quiet and obedient, and even when he disobeyed orders he had good explanations that Bruce would understand because he was a smart kid, Dick thought.

Dick finds it hard to ever hold it against Bruce. Bruce was about Dick's age himself when he took him in, and Dick wasn't an easy child to raise. And the fact that the man never really continued this method of discipline onto his little brothers really shows that it was just him that was the cause, right?

 

"Im giving you a chance to get this done properly." Bruce announces, walking back to the computer.

 

_A chance. An open slot. An opportunity to prove himself again. Its something he can never find himself resisting._

 

_But the chemical...it should be destroyed.._

 

"The right way? Or your way?" He questions, squeezing his eyes shut at the oncoming reprimand.

 

To his luck, Bruce ignores that. 

 

"Hand." He demands. 

Dick blinks, before stretching out his open palm. Batman places a tracker on it. Dick makes a sound thats a question.

 

"Deathstroke is aware of ours and the Leagues interference on the chemical shipments. Your job is to locate him and whatever new location he's moved to with the shipments."

 

"And i put this on him?" The acrobat completes. "I put this on him so you can know where he is and you can buy it instead? Pretty sure he already has a contract with is not the League, Bruce."

 

"Use your head." Bruce says before turning back to the computer.

 

Dick takes a moment to think.

 

"You're gonna send a guy undercover as the guy he has the contract with but really its the League's guy."

 

Batman grunts in response.

 

Another thing Dick hated staying in his own head. It was all sorts of messed up and he knew it. And yet, scenarios he created in his head were the way Batmans life worked.

 

They fell into a lapsed silence. Dick moved away from Bruce, unsure what to say or do. The man didn’t seem keen on talking but he wasn’t actively chasing Dick off. An apology rested on the tip of his tongue. The need to tell Bruce how he felt was wrong but he stomped it down. He was sure that Bruce didn’t want anything to do with him anymore.

 

 

Dick wasn't scared of much, he was raised by Batman.

 

But one thing he did fear was abandonment.

 

 

"We leave for patrol in 20. After that, you're expected to carry out the task." Bruce says, voice normal and kind of gentle, as if he felt pity on him for what he'd just done. Dick grimaced, he hated that he had to push his dad this far. Now he just felt guilty.

 

 

He can't- he cant have Bruce give up on him-

 

 

"Bruce, im s-s-" He can't help it but let a few more tears fall. He steps forward and hugs his father. "I'm sorry. Im sorry im sorry-"

 

 

"Stop." Bruce says, his voice is less angry.  It sounds calmer, more monotonous. He places a hand on Dicks head lightly, and Dick can't help but let out a relieved sigh. 

 

 

He had a mission.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooo dats toxic,,,
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> by the way, the thing about dick jason and bruce. I was referring to a canon comic (can't remember exactly which,, im bad at referencing) but basically what happens is that after jay died dick confronts bruce about letting a kid with less skills than him be robin etc cuz its dangerous and bruce gets mad and accuses dick of being jealous and then proceeds to whack him so hard he ends up on the floor. like wow. as if he wasnt mourning too.
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> p.s. aaa sorry about not updating for a looooong time but ya know life. Btw i do keep checking comments and i love them sm thank you all for sticking with me


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